Friends Forever
by The Mrs.Ventimiglia
Summary: AU, LL What if Luke and Lorelai had been friends from day one? A story about their lives and how they grew up with each other.
1. Beginnings

Title- Friends Forever

Summary- What if Luke and Lorelai had been friends from day one? A story about their lives and how they grew up with each other.

Disclaimer- If I owned it, Chris would be dead, April would have a different father and Luke and Lorelai would be happily married.

Lorelai's a newborn and Luke's one year and five months

April 1968

* * *

"Aw, Emily, she's adorable," Amy Danes cooed to her best friend as she hiked her seventeen month old son up higher on her hip, adjusting him around her six month pregnant stomach. 

"She's perfect," Emily Gilmore whispered lovingly, softly stroking baby Lorelai's cheek with a smile on her face.

"Baby!" Luke shouted happily, clasping his hands together as he smiled, leaning forward towards Lorelai.

"Yes, Luke, that's Lorelai, can you say, 'Lorelai'?" Emily asked as Amy sat Luke down on the hospital bed.

He mumbled something incoherently as he leaned over to get a better focus on the baby. He reached out and poked her fingers and when they spread out, he jumped back, nearly falling off the bed in surprise.

"Shh, it's okay Luke," Amy soothed as she noticed her sons frightened and puzzled expression.

Amy sat down on the edge bed next Emily and pulled Luke on her lap. "Pretty," he murmured in complete captivation as he reached out to touch her fingers again only this time when the baby's fingers moved slightly, he wrapped his hand around them.

"They are going to be best friends," Amy stated confidently, looking at Emily for reassurance.

"And you would know this how?" Emily asked, unconvinced.

"Look at them," she said as if it were obvious. "They already love each other."

"They're not even toddlers, they aren't in love," Emily scoffed, watching the way Luke caringly acted towards Lorelai.

"How much do you want to bet they will be best friends forever?" Amy asked with a smile as she stood up and placed Luke on the pillow next to Emily. "They will be best friends and then at one point they'll turn into lovers." At this point she was picking Lorelai up off Emily's lap and cradling her in her arms, she then gently placed Lorelai into Luke's arms, carefully making sure that Luke wouldn't drop her.

"What are you doing now?" Emily asked as she watched her best friend dig through her extraordinarily large purse.

"When they get married someone's going to need to bring out the old pictures and what could be better than Luke holding a newborn Lorelai?" she asked, retrieving the camera from her purse.

"You're crazy," Emily stated obviously as Amy began to take about twenty shots of Luke and Lorelai.

Ignoring Emily's comment, Amy went on. "They even have the alliterating names. Luke and Lorelai, Lorelai and Luke. And they both have the matching blue eyes."

"Have you figured out what you're going to name that little one?" Emily questioned, gesturing towards Amy's stomach while keeping a close eye on Luke who was handling Lorelai carefully, occasionally poking her cheek or arm in interest.

"I was talking to William and I was thinking of keeping the 'L' thing going and calling her Liz, short for Elizabeth." she said, proudly placing her hands on her protruding stomach.

"It sounds wonderful," Emily commented sincerely.

There was a pause in the conversation and it was broken suddenly by a squeal. "Mommy," Luke repeated over and over as he gestured for her to come closer, a smile plastered on his face with glistening eyes.

Both Emily and Amy came near, crowding around Luke as he pointed to Lorelai's open and curious eyes. "Look!" he exclaimed excitedly as he gently poked at her cheek.

"She's pretty, isn't she Luke?" Amy crooned, shooting Emily a smile as she rolled her eyes.

"Soft," Luke said as he leant down and placed a kiss on her forehead, pulling back quickly to smile at Emily and his mom.

"See," Amy smiled, gesturing to the two kids. "He already shows signs of love and affection."

"Dear god, help me," Emily mumbled though a smile was playing at her lips.

"Aw, now you know, that would be a cute picture," Amy said, grabbing her camera. "Luke, give Lorelai another kiss," She instructed.

"Lucas, my boy, make sure you know that your mother is crazy and belongs in an institution," Emily informed Luke, though the blank stare he returned made it obvious he had no clue as to what she was saying.

"Emily, honestly," Amy sighed, snapping one last shot of Luke and Lorelai before putting her camera away.

She walked over to Luke and sat on the edge of the bed next to him. "Okay, Luke, can mommy hold Lorelai?" she asked in a little baby voice.

Luke shook his head and scrunched up his nose in disapproval, pulling Lorelai about a millimeter closer.

"Please, Lukey, I just want to hold her," Amy pouted sadly, but Luke just smiled and leaned down to give Lorelai another kiss on the forehead.

"My baby," he said with a giggle.

"And he already gave her a cute, little pet name. I'm telling you, Em, those two are going to be the perfect couple." Amy said, smirking at Emily.

Emily sighed and shook her head, a small smile tugging at her lips, "If you say so, Amy, if you say so."

* * *

AN- Each chapter will be a stand-alone from either a significant moment in Luke and Lorelai's lives or just something that shows how their friendship works. Once they hit a certain age, though, it'll transform into a chapter story. I already have this story planned and I fully intend on finishing it.

That's the first chapter. I'll probably be updating weekly but don't worry, the next chapters will have more Luke and Lorelai. It's hard to write when Lorelai's only a newborn. If you have any questions, let me know and I will gladly try and answer them. Reviews are gladly appreciated. And I've had this story planned long before all the LL meeting when they were teens stories suddenly began coming out.


	2. Friendship

Friends Forever

Lorelai's four and Luke's five

May 1972

* * *

"Oh, Luke-y," Lorelai cried out, running out into her backyard where Luke was sitting.

"Don't call me that." he insisted in irritation, turning back to his toy cars sprawled across the patio. "What do you want?" he asked, peering at her face in the semi-darkness of the yard, the only light shining brightly from the lamp from the window outside.

"Why are you out here?" she asked suddenly, forgetting instantly about her proposition for Luke. She plopped herself on the cold metal stone ground next to him, grabbing one of the plastic cars and driving it around in circles. "It's cold,"

"I'm fine," he stated, sending a blue car crashing into hers. "So, what do you want?" he questioned, sending her an impatient look.

"Let's play house," she suggested, smiling triumphantly at her brilliant idea. "In my room, my mom just let me buy a new doll, she said I couldn't play with it but I really, really want to, she has brown hair and green eyes, but her hair isn't curly like mine, it's more like your moms, even though hers is yellowish. And the doll's wearing a blue dress, and she has these frilly socks on underneath the shoes she's wearing, they're really ugly though, so I thought next time I'm at your house we could steal a pair of Liz's and put them on the doll instead. So what do you think?"

Luke sat there, watching Lorelai as she rambled on aimlessly. When she looked at him, most likely what seemed to be expectantly, he wasn't sure, he answered with a skeptic look. "No," he said flatly, returning back to driving his cars into one another.

"Please, Luke," she pleaded, silently pouting. "Just for a little while, until you mom comes to pick you up,"

"Boys don't play house. That's a girl's game," he reminded her stubbornly, fixating his eyes on his toys and not on Lorelai's face. He always gave into her when she pouted. Like the month before when she had asked him to play dress up in his parent's clothes that clearly didn't fit either of them. It hadn't been his proudest moment and he knew if the word got back to his friends he played dress up, they'd make fun of him for playing with a girl. Whenever she stuck out her lower lip and flashed her bright blue eyes at him though, he seemed as if he were put under a spell like in the movie Snow White. Was that the one Liz and Lorelai had made him watch? He couldn't remember, there were too many princess movies in the last couple weeks.

"But if boys didn't play house, who would take out the trash?" she asked smugly, knowing that she had made her point.

"Hire a maid," he retorted dully, accidentally sending a car into a bush.

"And how would I afford a maid if I didn't have a working husband?" she shot back, pushing herself on the ground. "Now come on, your mom will be here in about two hours." she instructed, waving a hand for him to follow her.

Luke sighed, grumbling his annoyances as he picked up his toy cars off the ground. "Can't you get your own job?" he called out helplessly to Lorelai's withdrawing form.

"Then who would take care of the kids?" she responded as if he should know this.

Luke sighed miserably and followed after her. After all, she was a Gilmore and who was he to resist.

* * *

When he arrived in Lorelai's very un-Lorelai-like room, filled with pink frills and flowers, he noticed her sitting on the bed, brushing a brown-haired doll's hair. "Welcome home, honey." Lorelai greeted sweetly, jumping off her bed and carelessly knocking her new doll onto the floor.

"Do you have to say it like that?" Luke asked in an annoyed fashion. He walked over to her bed and sat on it, toeing off his shoes in the process.

Lorelai stood there, glaring at him with her hands on her hips. "You're supposed to give me a hello kiss when you get home." she reminded him. "And pick the baby up off the floor," she instructed, tapping her foot impatiently. Honestly Luke thought that whenever they played house, Lorelai acted too much like Emily, but he knew if he told her that she'd freak out and yell at him.

He slumped off the bed and grabbed the doll by her arm, walking over to Lorelai. "Here," he said uninterestedly, handing her the baby.

"You should really be gentler with her," she scolded lightly, tenderly taking the baby and cradling it in her arms.

Whenever the two of them played house Lorelai always made sure he at least acted interested because if he didn't she promised to tell all his friends that she was his girlfriend, something he didn't want anyone to think. Walking over, he gave Lorelai a quick peck on the cheek and made his way over to her closet that had a pack of crayons and a coloring book stored in the back. "So, what's her name?" he asked casually, gesturing to the doll she was holding.

She stood still in the middle of the room for several seconds, just staring at the doll. Finally, she decided upon a name. "Lorelai," she told him, confident of such a good name. "Lorelai Leigh."

"You can't name a doll after yourself," he informed her, snorting in disbelief at Lorelai's inability at being creative.

"First of all, my name is Lorelai Victoria, this," she said, gesturing to the doll, "Is Lorelai Leigh. And second, boys name their kids after themselves all the time. Why can't I?" she asked rhetorically, wandering over to sit down next to Luke and placing Lorelai between them.

"You have very strange thoughts on things." he conceded, looking up at her briefly to cock an eyebrow at her.

"Husbands don't color, you know," she reminded him, swiftly swiping the coloring book out of his hands and throwing it behind her so it landed in a heap in the corner of the room.

"And what do husbands do, Lorelai?" he asked curtly, trying to do his best not to show his annoyances.

"They work and cook."

"I thought the wives cooked," he mused, standing up reluctantly.

"They do, but I don't." she told him, smiling, "I have to take care of Lorelai," she reminded him, scooping up the baby in her hands and wandering over to her bed.

"Whatever you say, Lorelai, what ever you say," he mumbled, walking towards the door.

"Which Lorelai?" she asked him, flashing him a mock-confused look. "Me or her?"

"You obviously," he told her, giving her a 'duh' look. "I don't talk to dolls."

"Right, but we should give her a nickname so we don't confuse the two of us," she suggested brightly. "How about Lori?" she recommended, cocking her head to the side as she held the doll out in front of her, picturing the doll as a 'Lori'.

"I hate that name," Luke grumbled immediately, wrinkling up his nose in disgust.

"Why?" Lorelai asked incredulously. "It's a perfectly good name." she reasoned, turning the doll to face him as she gestured at her with one hand.

"It reminds me of the girl at my school, Lori; she's really weird and always follows me around." he said vaguely, obviously trying not to think about her. "Any other ideas?" he asked, leaning his back against the door.

"How about Rory?" she asked, hoping he would have nothing against that name. She lifted the doll up and held closer to Luke. "Doesn't she look like a Rory?" she asked confidently.

"She looks like a doll," Luke corrected flatly. "But if we have to give her a nickname, it might as well be Rory." He paused for a second, lost in thought. "How did you even come up with the name Rory?" he asked finally.

"Well Lori is a shortened form of Lorelai and Rory rhymes with Lori, so it all worked out." she said as if it were obvious.

"Okay," Luke nodded, impressed by her thought. "I'll go sneak into the kitchen and get some ice cream, want chocolate or vanilla?" he asked quietly, just in case someone heard his plan.

"Chocolate, but don't get caught, mom hates it when I eat in my room." she reminded him cautiously.

"Don't worry, I won't." he assured her confidently. "Sprinkles and whip cream?" he checked as he reached for the door knob.

"Extra sprinkles. The colored kind, not the brown ones," she told him firmly, wrinkling her nose up slightly.

"I know," he said, smiling at her. "I'll be back soon, and if your mom asks where I am, say I'm in the bathroom,"

She nodded in agreement before ushering him out the door. "Hurry up, I'm hungry," she called quietly after him, only to get a wave in response.

* * *

Later on, she and Luke were sitting on her bed, the doll sandwiched between them as they ate their ice cream and laughed at anecdotes Luke told about Stars Hollow. "I'm full," Lorelai stated, wrapping her arms around her mid-section. "Why'd you make me so much?" she complained, weakly hitting him in the arm.

"You'd have whined if I hadn't," he pointed out, taking another bite of ice cream.

She pouted slightly, her arms crossed over her chest. "I'm tired," she said while trying to stifle a yawn. "What time is it?" she asked, allowing herself to climb under the covers and snuggle up against her fluffed up pillow.

"I think it's about eight thirty," he informed her, repeating her actions and lying down next to her. "I saw my mom downstairs so it'll probably be awhile."

They both laid in the silence until Lorelai broke it after hastily tossing the plastic Rory on the ground. "I'm going to bed, night Luke." she murmured quietly, cuddling back into her previous position, only this time slightly closer to Luke.

"Night Lorelai," Luke whispered in equal quietness as he absentmindedly draped an arm over Lorelai's stomach and unconsciously moved closer to her, almost immediately falling asleep seconds later.

Beside him, Lorelai smiled tiredly as she briefly opened her eyes to glance at Luke's sleeping form. Sighing in content, she tugged his arm tighter, holding it there as she slowly began to fall asleep, too.

* * *

Wow. I was so surprised that so many people reviewed the first chapter, thank you all so much. I hope this one was up to standards. Regarding a question someone had asked, yes, Luke does live in Stars Hollow, and a lot of Emily and Amy's past will be explained in upcoming chapters. If you have any questions, comments, favorite parts or suggestions, please let me know. And the next chapter won't be up as quick as this one, I still have to write it, this one had already been finished. Review please!


	3. Annoyances

Friends Forever

Lorelai's five and Luke's six

July 1973

* * *

Luke and Lorelai were out on the patio, both laying flat on their stomachs, and pouring over their coloring books, idly noticing the comfortable silence as the jotted their crayons across the pages.

Emily walked out into the backyard holding a young boys hand in hers. "Lorelai, Luke, I'd like to introduce you to Christopher Hayden," she smiled, letting go of Chris's hand and giving him a gentle push towards the two best friends.

"That's nice," Lorelai brushed off, continuing to color her picture. "Luke can I use the blue?" she asked, barely glancing up from her book to acknowledge the new boy.

Without taking his eyes off his paper, he tossed her a crayon that didn't even resemble the color blue. "Here."

She took it gratefully, though, not even bothered by the orange crayon in her hand and looked over his paper. "I like your puppy, its cute." she said, smiling happily.

Luke nodded appreciatively and looked over at her drawing. "So is your- bunny?" he guessed, his eyebrows wrinkling together in confusion. The purple, three-eared bunny abnormally drawn on her paper baffled him, and he barely heard her next statement due to the lack of understanding.

Ignoring him, she went on musing dreamily. "When we get married we gotta get a doggy like that." she told him.

"We're not getting married." he grumbled forcefully, shaking his head in frustration.

Chris Hayden decided to make his appearance known and greeted the girl that seemed his age. "Hello Lorelai," he said, outstretching his hand for her to shake.

Emily smiled at Chris adoringly, patting him briefly on the arm. "I'll leave you three alone,"

After Emily walked away, checking on them momentarily over her shoulder, Chris spoke up again. "Can I color with you?" he asked hopefully, already sitting himself down beside Lorelai.

Luke looked up at Chris for the fist time, noting his choice of clothing. A pair of slacks and a white button-up shirt that looked neatly pressed and tucked into his pants, making him look completely out of place next to himself and Lorelai, both wearing jeans and a t-shirt despite Emily's protests. "If you have your own book," he said, seemingly rude though Lorelai didn't seem to notice.

Chris shrugged off Luke's impoliteness and turned to Lorelai, still speaking hopefully. "Can I borrow one of yours?"

"Why are you here?" she asked abruptly, not even bothering to answer his question as she continued to look at him curiously.

"My mom brought me to your house and your mom took me out here." he answered honestly, not understanding what she was talking about.

She briefly turned to look at Luke who was giving off the impression that he would rather either himself or Chris be anywhere else at that moment. "Huh," she commented uninterestedly, turning back to her crayons, trying to stack them up to form a teepee type shape.

Noticing Lorelai's lack of attention towards him, he tapped her on the shoulder, causing her head to turn towards him with an intensely annoyed look upon her face. "Maybe later we could go to the park," he said somewhat lamely, not knowing what else to say. The bothersome looks Luke and Lorelai were sending him were beginning to confuse him.

She continued to give him the annoyed look. "I only go to the park with Luke; we're getting married when we grow up," she informed him, happiness creeping into her tone towards the end of her sentence as she gestured to Luke sitting next to her.

Luke looked up momentarily, giving Lorelai a hard look. "No, we're not." he repeated firmly, looking back down to concentrate on his drawing.

Lorelai waved a hand at him dismissively, than leaned in towards Chris, whispering conspiringly in his ear. "Yes we are." she corrected, nodding knowingly.

Chris looked on at Lorelai, confused as to why she would want to get married or even remotely like a boy that seemed to want nothing to do with her. "Maybe we could get married." Chris suggested brightly, looking expectantly at Lorelai as Luke's head shot up and watched the scene in confusion. Anyone that knew Lorelai knew that she only liked Luke and he was the only boy she had ever hung around, it only seemed every other boy just seemed to aggravate her.

Lorelai scoffed lightly, not even taking him seriously. "You only marry the people you love," she told him confidently, looking back at Luke who only seemed to roll his eyes, though he felt truly elated that she didn't pick the new kid over him.

Chris looked down at his hands folded properly in his lap, the disappointment evident on his face and in his tone. "Oh,"

Lorelai shook her head sadly, "Too bad," she commented sympathetically, as if she wasn't even able to choose between him and Luke.

There was a moment of silence where Lorelai shifted back onto her stomach next to Luke and continued to color, the only time it was broken was when Lorelai would make a comment of some sort or ask Luke to pass a certain colored crayon, to which he responded monosyllabically. Chris watched the scene in pure curiosity, wondering what made Lorelai so drawn to Luke when he looked so simple and boring and from what he had learned- discourteous.

He was pulled out of his reverie by Lorelai's voice. "Do you want ice cream?"

Chris smiled, pleased that she was talking to him without sounding uninterested. "Yes, please," he answered politely.

Lorelai looked over at him, looking as if she forgot he was there. "I was talking to Luke." she informed him dully before pushing herself up on her knees and turning back to Luke. "So, you want some?" she asked him.

"What kind are you having?" he wondered, looking up at her for the first time with an absent bored and annoyed look.

"Chocolate," she smiled.

Luke returned the smile. "Get me vanilla and we'll trade," he decided confidently looking at her for a confirmation.

She nodded her head once in agreement and left the patio without looking back, "Be right back." she called over her shoulder as an afterthought once she reached the door leading inside.

There was a pause and the tension of uncomfortable silence built, Chris not wanting to break it and Luke not wanting to listen to him.

Chris stood up, dug his hands deep into his pockets and walked around the patio in small circles, looking everywhere but at Luke as he talked to him, trying to keep the uncertainty out of his tone. "Is Lorelai your girlfriend?"

Luke looked up, not even fazed by the question as he corrected him. "Best friend," Though most people had confused them to be brother and sister, due to the fact that Lorelai was always attached to his side, he was used to the comments, especially the ones from his friends teasing him that he had a girlfriend.

"She's pretty," Chris commented.

Luke shrugged. "I guess,"

Chris looked over at Luke thoughtfully, "I thought boys don't have friends that are girls,"

"You wanted to be her friend," Luke said casually, though the pointed look he sent spoke volumes.

Chris shrugged off the remark and look, defending himself lightly, "I know, but that's just because I don't have any yet. How old are you?"

"Six,"

"I'm five,"

Luke nodded as if he was intrigued by the conversation. "So is Lorelai,"

"I know, Mrs. Gilmore told me," he said, smiling. He watched Luke as he silently got up shuffling the books and papers into one neat stack. "Where are you going?"

Luke looked back from his position at the door. "To help Lorelai get my ice cream," he said obviously, not even bothering to look back as he walked inside.

"Can I come?" Chris asked hesitantly to Luke's retreating form. When he got no response he decided that either Luke didn't hear him or he just didn't want to follow him. He knew it was the latter though he hopefully wished it was the former. After Luke was fully out of sight, he went over to the stack of coloring materials in the corner and sat down, frowning slightly as he flipped through the pages, the ones with hearts and backwards L's all over the page obviously Lorelai's.

* * *

Luke walked into the kitchen, standing back slightly as he watched Lorelai cleverly maneuver her way around the kitchen without any adults finding out. He noted that she didn't seem to notice his presence as he stepped closer to her from behind as she scooped the chocolate ice cream into a bowl. Setting one hand abruptly on her shoulder, the other went to cover her mouth as she let out a muffled shriek, the spoon she was using dropping to the counter with a clank. She turned around, glaring at him as she tried to regain her breathing. "Why'd you do that?" she whispered harshly, giving him a slap on the shoulder as he stifled a laugh.

He shrugged, the amused smile still visible on his face. "Just seeing what you're doing."

She turned back around, continuing to scoop the ice cream with slight difficulty. "So, do you like him?" she asked, briefly looking behind herself to look at Luke again.

"I don't like any of our mom's friend's kids," he reminded her, pushing her out of the way to get the ice cream himself.

"What about me?"

"But I have to like you."

Pouting, she stuck her tongue out at him before sticking her head out the kitchen door that led to the dining room, where her mother, Amy, and Chris' mom sat. She turned back to him, taking the bowl of ice cream he handed to her thankfully. "I don't know, they never stay this long." she said thoughtfully. "They always leave before we say hi,"

"So you like Christopher?" he asked, scoffing lightly at the thought.

"No, he's weird and too nice; he wears weird clothes, too. And I don't think he likes you,"

"Probably because I don't like him."

She bit her lower lip. "I think he's more weird than the boy dad brought over last week." she said decisively, helping Luke the ice cream back in the freezer.

Luke used his spoon to take a bite of Lorelai's ice cream as she did the same to his. "You mean Jason?" he asked.

She shrugged carelessly. "I don't know, there's too many people to remember."

* * *

As Chris heard the two of them coming back, he hurriedly sat down the stacks of papers and went over to the door to see Luke surprisingly laughing with Lorelai as the walked outside. "Hi Lorelai," he smiled, walking over to where she and Luke had sat down.

The two's laughing abruptly stopped and Luke's face turned expressionless. "Hi," she said, sounding reluctant to even be near him.

With the conversation lacking, Chris racked his brain to say something interesting. "Do you have a nickname?" he asked, directing his question towards Lorelai.

She rolled her eyes. "No,"

Chris smiled. "Then I'll give you one," he decided confidently, slightly proud of himself that he had a way to get on Lorelai's good side.

"I don't want one," she stated flatly, shoving her spoon into her mouth as if to make a point.

Chris, however, didn't believe her. "How about Lore?" he suggested carefully.

"I said I don't want one." she told him, sounding more firm than earlier.

"C'mon Lore, it's only a nickname."

"But I don't want a nickname."

"But it'll be neat. You can give me one if you want."

Luke sighed tiredly, the discussion obviously pointless. "Fine, your nickname's stupid, now you can leave, okay?"

Chris watched Lorelai's annoyed face fade and the relief show as she stifled a small laugh at Luke's nickname for Chris. He was confused and slightly angered. "I can't leave yet, my mom's still inside." he explained.

"Well if you want to play with a girl than go inside with her, we've got stuff to do." Lorelai told him, gesturing between her and Luke.

"What stuff?" Chris wondered suspiciously.

"Stuff that you can't know about. It's a secret," she added, taking Luke's hand and pulling him up.

Chris' shoulders sulked in defeat as he gave a last half-hearted attempt for Lorelai to like him. "Do you think that maybe we could all play a game? Like tag or something instead?"

Lorelai looked back, feigning exasperation. "You can't play tag with only three people, it's boring that way."

"Well maybe next time," he called after them in slight hopefulness as they walked back into the house, side by side. Lorelai would just need to get used to him before they were friend, he internally assured himself as he walked over to the corner of the patio and sat down, trying to think of a way for him and Lorelai to be as close as she said she was with Luke.

* * *

I wasn't that satisfied with this chapter, it didn't end up as well as I wanted to but it's hard to write them at such a young age. The point I was trying to get across was that Chris is an ass and no one like's him though there'll be more of him. I know he didn't seem as mean but he's just clingy and boring. Don't worry, this is L/L.

I encourage you to review, it makes my day. If you have any questions, comments, favorite parts or suggestions, please let me know. Review!


	4. Arrogance

Friends Forever

Lorelai's six and Luke's seven

June 1974

* * *

"Luke will you push me on the swing?" Lorelai asked Luke sweetly. She and Luke had gone to the local park in Hartford with Amy and Emily for their usual weekly trip and once the two got there, Luke had met up with his friend Brian Foster and they'd been playing catch since, inevitably leaving Lorelai out.

"Swing yourself," Luke told her in a aggravated voice, ignoring her constant pout and Brian's teasing laughs as he continued the game of catch.

"Please, Luke, just a little to get me started." she suggested, trying to drag him over to the swings by pulling on his elbow and causing him to stumble.

"No, boys who play with girls are stupid. Boys who play with girls are sissies." he said, shrugging her off of him again. Even though he enjoyed the fact that Lorelai was always around and hanging all over him, all of his friends would make fun of him if his best friend was a girl, something he really didn't want to hear.

"Okay, maybe later, then," she decided, doing her best to add happiness to her tone. After a year or two of being snapped at and ignored, she finally understood why Luke pretended not to like her around his friends, well, maybe not completely understood, but she got the concept after many explanations. Still, she wasn't going to give up on her best friend over something as stupid as not being able to play with him when his other friends were around.

She walked over to the swing and sat on it, her feet barely hitting the ground, proving it difficult to swing herself. Struggling to move, she noticed Luke watching her, looking like he was trying not to laugh. She caught his eye, silently hoping and pleading he'd come over and help her.

"Hey Lore," came a distinctly annoying voice from behind her.

She hopped off the swing and turned around. "Chris," she stated without interest. She had never liked him, he was always trying to get her to play with him, plus he thought Luke was mean because he never hung around with her around his friends wasn't a good thing in her book. He just didn't know the real Luke. The one she knew.

"Do you need help?" he asked, pointing to the swing Lorelai had set herself on again, only this time facing him.

"No," she said stubbornly, trying to push herself and desperately trying to pump her legs and gain more speed without looking like a fool.

"Please?" he asked, coming closer and placing one hand on the rope holding the swing up, bringing her difficult movements to a halt.

"Boys who play with girls are sissies," she said tenaciously, echoing Luke's words from earlier and sticking her tongue out at him. "Now get off my swing." she demanded, swatting her hand and pulling at his fingers tightly wrapped on the rope.

"I'm not a sissy!" Chris exclaimed, stomping his foot angrily on the ground and tossing her a livid glance.

"Yes you are! Now leave me alone." she yelled, still trying to pry his fingers off the swing.

"Stupid girl," he said after finally releasing his grip and stalking off behind her, punctuating each step with an angered stomp.

"Finally," Lorelai sighed, relieved he was gone and that she could get back to her frustrated attempts at swinging.

Behind her Chris stood angrily and set his feet determinedly on the ground. Irritably, he pulled his hands back and pushed them forward, sending Lorelai pummeling to the ground and causing a surprised gasp to escape past her lips.

"Ow," she yelped, curled up in a fetal position on the sandy and gravelly ground. She did her best to sit up but her elbows and knees were all scraped up and she couldn't bend them, causing an upset whimper to emerge from the back of her throat. Looking up, she noticed Christopher's wide-eyed look and narrowed her watery eyes furiously at him.

On the other side of the park, Luke heard the estranged cry and instinctively looked over to the where it came from to see Lorelai crying on the ground, scratched knees pulled to her chest and Christopher Hayden hovering above her cautiously.

He dropped the baseball he was just about to throw and instantly and ran over to Lorelai, kneeling down at her side. "What happened?" he asked softly, trying to sit her up gently.

She hiccupped as tears that were forming in her eyes pooled over and she weakly lifted a hand to point at Chris, wincing at the pain of her bended elbow. "He- he," she started, but choked on a sob and couldn't get the words to pass her throat.

Luke looked up at the horror-struck face of Chris and lightly set Lorelai back down so he could stand up. "What did you do?" he accused, his rarely used protective side for Lorelai emerging from within him.

"I-I- nothing- I just-" he sputtered, terrified of the looks Luke was sending him as he staggered backwards slowly, trying not to seem as intimidated as he was.

Luke stood up and walked over to Chris, who was backing away with each step Luke took. "Did you hurt her?" he asked angrily.

"I didn't mean to, I just-" he was cut off by a swift kick in the shin from Luke, causing a shriek to escape from his mouth.

Satisfied, Luke set himself down on his knees next to Lorelai, ignoring the cries of agony Chris was yelping. "Are you okay?" Luke asked tentatively, reaching down and pulling the curly and loose wet strands of hair covering her tear streaked face and tucking them behind her ears.

"My elbow, and- and my knee." She sniffled, holding her hand to her arm tightly as she tried to sit up, using the chain on the swing as support.

"Do you want me to get your mom?" he questioned softly, pulling her upper body towards him and wrapping his arms around her protectively.

"No," she mumbled into his chest quickly, not wanting to deal with her mother at this time, knowing her mom would somehow blame this on her and take Chris' side. That's how it had been the last year, her own mother had decided that Chris was her favorite kid and that Luke didn't seem to suffice as Lorelai's best friend anymore, even though Amy still spent most of her time at their house.

"Okay," he said, trying to calm her down by rubbing small circles on her back whispering soft, soothing words into her ear. "Want me to get I get my mom?"

Again, she shook her head, the tears and sobs subsiding. "I'm fine." She paused, recollecting herself quickly. "Thank you," she said softly, pulling back from Luke's embrace. She looked over at Chris who was whimpering on the ground, clutching his right leg in pain. Her mouth gaped and a smile appeared on her face. "Did you do that?" she asked, trying not to burst out into a fit of giggles.

"Well he's a jerk." Luke said decisively as he stood up, gently pulling Lorelai up with him. After she dusted the sand of her Emily-disapproved jean shorts, he grabbed her hand and began to walk back over to the field Brian was still waiting patiently at.

Walking past Christopher who looked like he would burst into tears at any moment, Lorelai leaned down to his ear and took her chance to whisper "Sissy," while trying to stifle a giggle at the scene before her playing before her.

* * *

I wasn't that satisfied with this chapter, especially the shortness- I apologize, I couldn't find anything to add on to it without making it sound forced, but I had to have Chris acting like the jerk he is somehow, especially to please all the readers that felt bad for Chris in the last chapter. Thanks for the previous reviews, I am ever so grateful. What'd you think? But I do promise that as they get older the better the writing will be. Have faith.

Comments? Suggestions? Favorite Parts? Questions?

Reviews are to me as flannel is to Luke.


	5. Young Love

Friends Forever

Lorelai's seven and Luke's eight

March 1975

* * *

"Hello," Lorelai said, grinning cheerfully as she walked up to Luke. Her mother had just been on her way to the Danes home when Lorelai had spotted Luke on the swings by the Stars Hollow Elementary School playground alone other than his father reading the newspaper on the bench nearby. 

"Oh, hi." Luke grumbled from his spot on the swing, putting on an annoyed façade. He slowed down his swinging speed and waited for Lorelai to hop on the swing next to him and catch up to his pace, something that was a habit whenever they met up at the park.

"Guess what?" she asked excitedly. After moments of struggling, she had finally reached a normal speed and kicked her flip-flops off her feet into the air.

Luke looked over at her, intrigued. "What?" he asked, trying to ignore his too long hair that was in dire need of a haircut as it flopped around in his face.

"My parents are leaving the country for the weekend," she announced, smiling greatly as she slowed her speed deliberately.

"So?" Luke asked expectantly, slowing down to match her leisurely pace. He hated that Lorelai always expected him to know exactly what was on her mind, it got annoying after awhile.

"They decided that I could stay with you and Liz and you mom and dad. Isn't that cool? The entire weekend. We can hang around town and get ice cream and stuff." she said ecstatically. Though she was known to be more than just a guest at the Danes' home, her mother never let her stay the whole weekend at their house, saying that the weekend was meant for family even though she usually sat at home in her room, alone while her parents were out at functions.

"That is cool," Luke agreed, trying to act casual, though Lorelai knew from his subtle hints- the way his eyes twinkled and his small grin spread into a smile- that he was, indeed excited. "What time are you coming over at?" he asked, stopping his swinging motions completely.

"I think around three," she guessed. "Get my shoes," she requested gesturing to the white flip-flops turned over in the sandy ground. Luke obliged and got up, trudging over and grabbing her shoes, slipping them on her feet. "I think your mom is picking me up from school, my parents have to leave early." she added, standing up next to him.

"That's awesome." he said, smiling genuinely.

Lorelai smiled at his fondness and swiftly took a step forward, placing her lips against his. She didn't know why she did; it was just something she'd always wanted to do. Luke was her best friend and she loved him. She had heard Amy say to her mom and William that she and Luke were 'soul mates'. Or as her friend Jessica had put it in class the other day, they would 'end up like Cinderella and Prince Charming' except Lorelai had added that Luke didn't like to dance. So she decided to take a leap and kiss him.

Unfortunately that wasn't what Luke wanted. He abruptly pushed her off roughly, causing her to stagger backwards as he wiped his lips off with the back of his hand. "Why'd you do that?" he spat out angrily, glancing around the park nervously, trying to see if anyone had noticed.

Lorelai was at a loss for answers as she stood there, frozen to the spot, wondering why Luke was angry at her. "I-" she began nervously, but was interrupted by Luke.

"You can't kiss me!" he exclaimed, gesturing wildly with his hands. "You're a girl, a stupid girl and you shouldn't kiss me. I don't even like you like that, you're not my girlfriend and you'll never be. I don't even want a girlfriend, I'm too young, especially to be kissing you!" He was pacing back and forth, his voice escalading rapidly with each step.

"I'm sorry," Lorelai gushed apologetically, trying to keep her tears at bay. Luke rarely ever yelled at her, and when he did, it was usually just a front when he was around his friends. "I-I didn't mean to," she admitted, stuttering to keep her voice steady.

"What do you mean, you didn't mean to?" he asked expectantly. "You can't accidentally kiss someone, its like- impossible," He threw his hands frantically in the air, stopping his pacing completely to stare at her.

She swallowed difficultly, brushing the back of her hand against her eye to subtly check for any escaped tears. She took a deep breath, releasing it erratically. "I'm gonna go," she whispered barely audibly, pointing a finger to the playground behind her.

Luke watched her as she walked away briskly, shoulders slumped and feet dragging. He sighed dejectedly, trying to ignore the gut feeling nagging at him for making his best friend cry.

He sat, slumped on the swing, swaying barely, wondering if he should go after her and apologize. But then again, why should he? She kissed him and for god's sake, he was only eight. He shouldn't be kissing anyone.

He was pulled out of his reverie by a smack across the back of his head. "Ow," he cried out, rubbing his head soothingly.

"Did you just make Lorelai cry?" his father demanded, coming around to kneel in front if him.

Luke sulked back in his swing, sighing regretfully. "But daddy, she kissed me," he said, noticing how his dad's face didn't soften. "On the lips," he added, hoping it would help save him.

"She kissed you, huh?" Will asked, laughing lightly though he composed himself instantly. "Well, son, that's no excuse to call her stupid."

Luke's eyes widened in surprise, "Dad, did you hear me? She _kissed_ me. I'm only eight." He held up eight fingers, four on each hand while trying to keep balance on the swing. "She isn't supposed to kiss me, she's a girl."

"You know," Will began, "I bet that if this happened a couple years from now you wouldn't have called her that."

Luke's faced turned to immediate disgust. "Eew, dad, that's gross. It's Lorelai," he reminded his father, as if just her name explained everything.

William smiled at Luke, ruffling his long, curly hair before standing up. "Exactly, now go apologize to her and tell her you didn't mean to yell at her."

"But Dad," Luke whined, kicking his feet childishly, "She didn't have to apologize to me and what she did was worse. She-"

William cut him off, rolling his eyes. "I know, she kissed you. Now go, and make sure you tell her you're the stupid one," he demanded his tone firm and decisive as he pointed over to the jungle gym.

Wrinkling his face up in anger, he stared at his father, who continued to glare sternly back. "Fine," Luke agreed reluctantly, slowly pushing himself off the swing.

He stalked off over to the slide he had seen Lorelai hide herself under earlier. He sighed when as he got closer, he noticed the faint sniffles emerging from her.

Luke walked around, ducking to fit under the plastic slide and over to sit next to his depressed friend. "I'm sorry," he admitted into the silence, his voice sounding everything but.

"For what?" Lorelai asked, playing innocent. She loved giving Luke a hard time; it was fun seeing him flustered. She did her best to stifle a smile and keep her faux depressed face plastered upon her.

"You know, yelling at you, calling you stupid," he mumbled grudgingly, staring down at his shoes and scuffing them against the sand.

"Really?" she wondered, pouting at him desperately. He nodded slowly, clenching his jaw in annoyance.

"I'm the stupid one," he confessed in a dull tone, repeating the words his father had told to him, while spreading his arms out in defeat.

"I know," she told him, smiling knowingly. "All boys are, Jessica told me the other day." She watched as a small smile graced upon his lips and returned the gesture freely. "Can I hug you?" she asked bluntly, leaving her arms just inches off his upper body.

He backed off slowly, throwing his hands up in defense. "No hugging, I draw the line at hugging," he demanded, trying to sound forceful as he turned around, walking to get away from her.

"Just one?" she pleaded, sticking out her lower lip for emphasis. "And a kiss," she added with a smile, jogging hastily to keep up with his speed.

"If I said no to the hug, what makes you think I'll kiss you?" he called back incredulously, running to stay out of her embrace.

"Just a quick kiss on the cheek," she countered playfully, catching up to him and knocking him onto the ground swiftly, landing with her upper torso sprawled across his body. She sat up abruptly, pushing herself off of Luke's chest, causing his to release a grunt of annoyance. "Please," she pouted.

He sighed, agitated, clutching her hand and dragging her to a secluded area behind a tree. "One quick kiss on the cheek," he emphasized sternly, turning from side to side to check for any onlookers.

Just as he was about to place a chaste kiss on her cheek, Lorelai squealed in delight, causing Luke to cup his palm securely over her mouth. "Quiet," he demanded harshly.

He released his death grip on her mouth slowly and she turned to him, smiling excitedly. "You love me," she gushed quietly.

"I do not," He replied through gritted teeth. "Now do you want me to kiss you or not?" he asked impatiently.

"How romantic," she said sarcastically, cocking an eyebrow at him mockingly as she smiled at him.

"You know, I could just walk away," he reminded her lightly, fully ready to go back to the swings. He smiled at her protests as she tugged on his arm with one hand and pointed to her cheek with the other.

He finally pushed him lips firmly into her cheek, letting them linger there for about five seconds before pulling back. "There, you happy?" he asked exasperated.

"Very," she responded with a cheeky smile. She quickly leaned on her tip-toes and placed a kiss against Luke's lips, pulling back quickly before he could notice and running back to the swings before he had a chance catch her.

"Lorelai!" he yelled, exasperated and furious to some extent as he followed after her.

She turned around briefly, flashing him a brilliant smile. "I love you too, Luke," she replied, loud enough for any bystander to hear as she picked up her pace to outrun the wrath of Luke's ten-shades-of-red face.

* * *

They just had to be each others first kiss, cheesy, I know, but it'd be wrong if I hadn't. Thanks for all the encouraging reveiws. Anyways, the older they get the easier they are to write. The more you review, the quicker the updates. I've already got some idea about how the next chapter will play out. Actually, I have an idea how the entire story will play out, each and every chapter. Is there anything anyone would like to see specifically?

Comments? Suggestions? Favorite Parts? Questions?

Reviews are to me as disappointing Emily is to Lorelai!


	6. Gone

Friends Forever

Lorelai's eight and Luke's nine

October 1976

* * *

"Luke, will you run inside and bring out the sodas?" his father asked, sounding rather tired and morbid due to the position they were in. They had just come back from the burial and now they were having people come back to their house to reminisce, as they had put it, about the good times, the better times. 

His mother had died, Luke thought, somewhat unemotionally as he nodded silently to his father and sulked into the house, ignoring the wails coming from his little sister who was currently located in the corner of the yard, curled into a ball. He was doing his best to restrain himself from running over to her and yelling at her, saying that she needs to suck it up and move on- that he had already- and to stop being such a baby.

He walked into the shaded, gloomy kitchen and opened up the fridge, not allowing himself to cry over this, to just push it out of his mind and do his best to stay strong. His father hadn't cried, so why should he? He slowly pulled out two six-packs of Coke and staggered lightly due to the weight, stumbling bit by bit as he made his way out to the backyard, filled with people, all dressed in black clothing. Everyone's faces seemed blurry to him, hard to place. Until he spotted her- Lorelai- hunched over Liz, soothingly stroking her back.

He dumped the sodas into the cooler set on the porch and picked up his speed at he walked over to Lorelai and Liz. Making his way, pictures from just hours ago at the funeral were popping into his mind, and he couldn't shake them out. Her gravestone which now read 'Amy Leigh Danes- A wonderful wife, mother and friend that will forever be remembered', her black casket being lowered into the ground, people he didn't even know, crying over the loss of his mother. What did they know, why were they even crying?

Did they know that she always made the best peanut butter and jelly sandwiches? Or that just months ago she had taught him how to cook, a personal secret of hers that she didn't like to tell anyone just in case they wanted her to cook something for them or a party of some sort? That on rainy days when Lorelai was over and his dad was at work Liz, Lorelai, him and his mom would dance around to the radio, laughing endlessly and carelessly? Or even that her voice could always comfort him back to sleep after a nightmare by singing a lullaby?

It irritated him how people that probably didn't even know her were crying and he was staying strong. Taking a deep, calming breath, he knelt down next to Liz and Lorelai. "Hey," he whispered, doing his best not to startle them as he sat down beside them.

"Hey," Lorelai echoed, just as quietly as he, though he noticed her tear-stained cheeks and red, puffy eyes. She had cried. He hated it when she cried; she was always so strong and composed, just like him. It made him feel weak when she cried, and he hated it. "I'm so sorry," she mumbled, her voice cracking in the midst of her sentence. Even though Lorelai had made it to the funeral, and he had seen her looking around for him, he just hadn't been in the mood to talk yet. But at that moment he still wasn't sure if he wanted to talk, or if he ever would.

"I know," he told her, nodding solemnly as he sandwiched himself between the only two girls in his life, other than Emily, that is. He wrapped an arm over Lorelai's shoulder and nudged her closer to him, noticing her entire body shaking as sobs hit her front on for what must have been a second time today.

On the other side of him, Liz excused herself to go see William, or maybe sit in her room, he wasn't sure. Lorelai had her head buried into his chest as Luke slowly and reassuringly stroked her back, losing himself in his deep and empty thoughts. Soon enough, though, he was shaken out of his reverie by Lorelai as she whispered something he couldn't place into his ear.

"What?" he asked confusedly, as Lorelai began to stand up hastily, pulling him up along with her. "What are you doing?"

"Why don't we, um, go inside?" she suggested, nodding her head towards the open backdoor through the crowd of people. "Too many people out here, we can talk more inside," She grabbed his hand and led him through the path of people that were blocking the way, all of them sending sympathetic glances in their direction.

Once they were inside, they both settled themselves side-by-side on the couch, neither of them wanting to bring up the subject of Amy. "So," Lorelai sighed dejectedly, fiddling with her hands nervously as her small legs swung loosely over the edge of the couch cushions.

"So," Luke echoed, matching her tone as he sat still, watching Lorelai as she found herself fascinated in her hands.

"Did I tell you I'm sorry?" she asked in an understanding voice, though Luke knew she never suffered from the loss of a family member, her bunny when she was six, sure, but no one as close as a mother.

"You have nothing to be sorry about," he said, harsher than he had intended. The look on Lorelai's face seemed hurt and confused and he immediately regretted his words. "It's just, I'm sick of it. Of everyone saying they're sorry and looking at me like I'm pathetic and about to burst into tears any second now. Don't they get it? I want them to stop. I don't want a party or a gathering or whatever it is out there, I just want it to be me, my dad, Liz, and you, sitting here, thinking of good times with her, or better yet, not saying anything about her at all." He looked at her after finishing up his rant, noticing her sad smile on her face.

"Well, then, it will just be you and me, and we are going to think and remember all the good times," she said decisively, getting up from her seat and walking over to the bookshelf across the room, kneeling in front of it to locate a certain book.

It was then that Luke allowed himself to look at, really look at, Lorelai's outfit. "Nice dress," he commented sarcastically, watching as the long, black fluffy tulle swayed gracefully when she walked around the room.

"Well at least I don't have to wear a tie," she shot back, walking back over to the couch in her original spot, occasionally staggering due to the weight of the enormous book she was carrying.

He groaned loudly in annoyance, hopping off the couch to help her drag the book onto the couch. "Your mom made me wear it. She came over here this morning to make sure my dad had everything under control, and when she saw me in just my pants, dress shirt and coat-"

"Lucas Danes!" Lorelai scolded in mock-incredulity, positioning herself on the couch back next to Luke and taking the book in both of themselves laps. "Just a coat and shirt? No tie? What kind of etiquette do they teach you here?" She clucked her tongue in mock-disapproval, elbowing him in the side to show she was kidding around.

"And then she started ranting about how improper it was not to wear a tie if you were the host of the party." he finished, unfazed by Lorelai's interruptions. After sending a small smile to his best friend, who returned the gesture, he tapped the book, trying to bring their attention back to the task at hand.

"Ah, right," Lorelai announced, flipping over the cover to the first page that read, 'The Danes Family Album', and in pencil written in the corner was a little note Lorelai had added, 'And Lorelai Gilmore, a daughter to one and all' in a messy child's scrawl, obviously done by Lorelai when she was just learning to spell. "You want to go through it? Because I just thought it would be nice," she said quietly, turning to Luke whose face seemed blank at the moment.

"Yeah," he sighed, caving in as he always would. He slowly turned the page to find Luke about a week old. "Why don't we skip ahead a little further, just until we find some of the two of us?" he suggested, not even waiting for her to answer as he skipped ahead to the page of Lorelai in the hospital.

"Ooh, ooh, look at you, and you're kissing me!" she exclaimed excitedly, pointing at a picture of the two of them on a hospital bed.

"I was not kissing you," he grumbled indignantly, swatting at her hand incessantly, trying to move it off the page. He turned the page and they both noticed a picture of Amy holding a newborn Lorelai.

"She looked so pretty," she mumbled, mesmerized, tracing her features on the plastic-covering pictured.

"Yeah," Luke agreed softly, slowly letting himself begin to miss her and remember her and admit to himself that it was really happening, she was really gone and out of their lives for good. He'd never be able to talk to his mom again. She wouldn't be there to cheer him up after a long day at school. She couldn't make him the amazing peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for school with a small note tucked into his lunchbox. She couldn't lull him back to sleep after a nightmare or during a thunderstorm. She couldn't do anything for him anymore. She was gone. And the sudden knot in his stomach wasn't helping him forget it.

They cautiously turned the page, trying not to let themselves become intimidated by the delicate pictures. The next couple pages were of Luke and Lorelai when Lorelai was just arriving home from the hospital and soon there were pictures of Liz and more of Amy. Soon there were a couple from their first cotillion the year before they had been coerced into with the promise of unlimited ice cream and popcorn afterwards. Pictures of Luke and Lorelai dancing clumsily and clearly uncomfortable clothes around other kids and some of Emily and Amy laughing lightly as they stood near by filled the next two pages. "That wasn't even worth all the ice cream in the world." Lorelai stated in clear disgust. "Remind me to never do that again."

"I'm right behind ya." Luke agreed distractedly as he bit his lower lip, memorizing each picture of his mother.

Then there were pictures of festivals and the town and all five of them- William, Amy, Liz, Luke and Lorelai- walking around, as if they were a real family. "The firelight festival," Lorelai announced unambiguously. "Always the best festival of them all," she stated, tracing through all the spread out pictures.

"Sometimes," Luke added, letting himself become absorbed in the pictures of his mom watching as she laughed happily as if nothing was wrong and nothing ever would be. The knot tightened and he heard a sudden and unclear voice in his head, reminding him that he'd never see that smile or hear her voice again. Ever.

He suddenly found himself pushing the album angrily off his lap and on the ground, swiftly marching up the stairs, brushing furiously at the tears forming in his eyes. He ran into his room and slammed the door heatedly, throwing himself on the bed, slowly and surely beginning to sob freely into his pillow.

Lorelai sat on the couch, frozen and bewildered. She watched Luke race up the stairs and she desperately wanted to follow him. She knew she should, she just couldn't remember the last time she had seen Luke crying and in such a vulnerable state. He was her one and only stable best friend she could count on and depend on. God knows her mother and father wouldn't give her a second glance if there was something wrong in her life. Amy had been like a second mother, which had inevitably brought her and Luke as close as they were to this day. After a couple of quiet seconds, she decided she needed to suck it up and go be with her best friend to comfort him, no matter how much it frightened her.

She tentatively knocked on the door and turned the handle, noting it was unlocked as she slowly opened it and walked uncertainly towards the bed where a heartbreaking scene played before her. Luke was curled up on his bed, clutching his pillow with shaking shoulders as he cried and choked on the tears streaming down his face.

"Luke?" Lorelai asked, her voice barely audible as she hesitantly walked over to his bed, toeing her shiny black heels off in the process. She crept silently onto the bed next to Luke, touching his shoulder tenderly, turning him to face her. "Are you okay?" she asked worriedly, trying to keep her tears at bay and her voice even, though she only managed the former.

He couldn't even respond, just shook his head violently, keeping his eyes closed. He tried to sit up next to Lorelai, who at this point, was leaning against the headboard. She protested silently, moving herself down next him and setting her head down on the pillow next to his, draping an arm around his waist as an awkward hug.

She let herself shed her tears as she ran her other hand soothingly through his rugged, light brown hair. "It'll all be okay," she whispered, trying to convince not only Luke, but herself that sooner or later it would be okay. "It'll all be okay," she murmured sadly. Reaching over she grabbed a blanket balled up at the end of his bed and pulled it over the two of them as they proceeded to calm themselves down and, eventually, fall into a deep and much needed sleep.

* * *

So, first let me thank each and every one of you that reviewed the last chapter. When I saw the number pass 100, to say I was astonished would be an understatement. When I first began this story I was afraid no one would read it or review it. So, thanks and please keep it up.

I, personally, love this chapter, I felt so bad for Luke while I wrote it, especially since I was listening to the song 'The Scientist' by Coldplay. The ending could have been better, but too bad, it was a nice place to stop at. What'd you think? BTW, Amy's death and her and Emily's past will be explained in the next chapter.

Reviews are to me as books are to non-pod Rory.


	7. Tiring

Friends Forever

Lorelai's nine and Luke's ten

November 1977

* * *

"So, Lorelai, what do you think about joining the Stars Hollow Dance Marathon?" Emily asked her daughter one night during dinner. It had been another night of just the two of them eating, Richard excusing himself due to yet another late night at work. 

Lorelai immediately choked on the piece of chicken she was currently chewing, her eyes bugging out immensely. "Wh-what?" she stammered, not even believing that the last sentence had made its way past her mothers lips.

Emily sighed. "You know, the dance marathon they have yearly, you and Luke entered a couple years ago? I think it would be nice if the two of you sign up again this year, now that you both are older, chances are you'll make it further into the event than last time," she cheerfully told her, a bright smile foreign to Lorelai tugging at her lips.

Lorelai was beyond bewildered. Her mother, Emily Gilmore, actually wanted her to participate in a Stars Hollow event? Usually anything that had to do with Stars Hollow other than the Danes' family was a useless topic in their house.

Her mother never understood how Amy had lived in such an 'absurd town' and got herself involved in such activities. Even though both Amy and Emily grew up in Hartford together and attended cotillion and debutant balls, Amy had always rather something more low-key, unlike her best friend. Lorelai usually liked to believe that's where she got her rebellion-of-all-things-etiquette from.

When Emily had first met Richard, it was around the same time Amy had met William. And even though Emily nearly forbid her to date 'such a blue-collared man', Amy still went and slowly and surely began to fall in love with him, as did Emily with Richard.

About a year or two later, Amy and William were the first to marry. Emily just about had a conniption fit when she had found out, but decided that for Amy's sake, she'd at least tolerate the man. The two decided to move to William's home town instead of staying in Hartford because, as Amy had put it when speaking to Emily one night over dinner, 'it had the perfect atmosphere for raising a family'. Emily almost choked on her martini.

Not even six months after the fact, Richard had proposed to Emily, to which she gladly accepted and Amy had found herself knocked up. On the night before Emily's wedding, the two women promised that no matter what, they would stay best friends and not let their families between them and that they would always be looking out for each others families, more likely meaning the kids due to the fact neither liked the other's husband.

Lorelai looked up at her mother timidly. "Mom, are you drunk?" she wondered in complete and innocent worry. Her mother never made any effort to get Lorelai to participate in the town events in Stars Hollow and now, suddenly her mother wanted her to sign up for the dance marathon? The one she and Luke had claimed years ago as the worst and most tiring one the town had created.

"Of course I am not drunk," Emily exclaimed, scowling at the assumption. "I just think it would be nice if you and Luke would partake in this year's marathon,"

Lorelai dropped her fork to the plate abruptly and turned to face Emily with a 'you-better-hurry-up-and-tell-me-what's-going-on-in-your-head look'. "Why the sudden urge to support the idea of a Stars Hollow event?"

Emily folded her hands neatly on her lap, her expression suddenly blank. "I just think it would be a nice way for the two of you to stay active in the community." she reasoned casually.

Lorelai, still a bit skeptic, eyed her mother suspiciously. "I'm not stupid, mom, I know you have another reason behind this. You're a horrible liar." she informed her mother, who seemed a bit taken aback by her daughter's bluntness.

"I have no other intentions other than allowing my daughter and her best friend having a nice time at a town function." Emily stated, not telling the complete truth.

Lorelai bit her lip, looked down at her plate unhappily then boldly looked back up into her mothers eyes. "This is because of Amy." she assumed knowingly, watching as her mother flinched slightly at the name of her deceased friend. "It's because it was just over a year ago today that she died. You're doing this for her. You're being supportive of the town and allowing me to spend the day in Stars Hollow with Luke because you miss her and this is something she'd have done if she were here." Her tone was even and accusing as she noticed her mother doing her best not to break the eye contact.

Doing her best to keep a steady voice, Emily directed her attention back down to her plate as she picked up her fork. "You are always spending time in Stars Hollow with Luke, I've never forbid it so don't make it sound like this is a one time thing. I only want you to sign up for this because I know it's something you would want to do,"

Lorelai nodded, the silence settling around them unbearable as she noticed how her mother avoided her question entirely. Reluctantly, she sighed. "I'll talk to Luke about it." she agreed, trying to force some enthusiasm into her tone for Emily's sake. She felt a slight ounce of pride in her heart as her mother smiled in almost a proud way at her, but then let it diminish quickly as her thoughts drifted back to Amy and how Luke and Liz wouldn't be able to ever experience such feeling again.

The past year had been hard on everyone close to Amy. They all mourned and grieved, some longer than others, some still not done with the process, and were finally starting to bring their lives back on track to how it was before the happenings of October of '76. That is, until October of '77, when everyone just passing out of their final stages of dealing with a loss realized that it had been a year that month, sending them back into the lamenting stages.

Emily, of course, had been the one with the most impact on her death, having known her since the two of them began kindergarten, but she tried to put her own grieving aside and helped with Lorelai and Luke, leaving Will to cope with Liz, the youngest who still had a hard time understanding what had happened to her mother.

When Amy had passed away a year ago, it was from a rare form of cancer. At first everyone was in denial that she wouldn't out beat it, but after many unhappy months in chemo, mostly everybody had come to terms with the fact she wouldn't make it and decided to spend as much time in the last few months the doctor said she had left with her. But when she had passed away unexpectedly in the middle of the night at the hospital, it had caught everyone off guard, giving them no time to grieve as they prepared for funeral arrangements and such. But it was a given that Emily would keep her promise and not let anything happen to end Luke and Lorelai's friendship.

* * *

"I hate you," Lorelai groaned, burying herself deeper into the blankets of the Danes' guest bed. She slowly peeked past the hem of the top sheet and let her eyes adjust to the bright light that had just been turned on. Looking on the table beside her, the bright red 5:15 on pink alarm clock she had recently brought over weeks ago shone brightly, causing her to groan again. 

Luke trudged over to the bed, still rubbing his eyes tiredly. "It's your fault. You told her we'd do it. Without even listening to what I had to say." He wasted no time ripping the sheets off the bed and throwing them on the ground despite her protests.

"But you should have seen her, Luke." she whined, stifling a yawn with her palm as she moved to sit up against the wooden headboard behind her. "She looked so sad, I mean, I know it's my mother but if you had seen her face... I've never seen her like that."

Luke's eyes narrowed menacingly. "Still, you could have at least lied and said I didn't want to go or that I was going over my friend's house." He grabbed the sleeves of her pink princess pajama's and roughly pulled her off the bed. "Get dressed," he demanded. "Breakfast is already done."

"But I want to go back to bed," she pouted, squirming out of his grasp. "With the warm blankets and the fluffy pillows. I don't want to go." She moved to lie back down on the bed, but Luke quickly pulled her off, sending her to the ground. She shrieked in surprise as she landed on the floor with a loud thud then looked up at him from the floor, glaring. "You could have given me a concussion, you know."

"Well I'm not that lucky," he deadpanned, hardly affected by her threatening stare. "So just suck it up and get changed. Apparently your mother picked out an outfit for each of us to go alone with the theme."

"Theme?" she wondered, the dread evident in her tired tone as she shifted around, idly reaching out for something to cover her.

He reached for her hand and pulled her into a sitting position, ignoring Lorelai's loud complaints. "Oh, yes, it seems that since the last time we entered the stupid marathon years ago, they decided that it would be much better to add a theme and you mother insisted on us wearing matching 40's themed clothes." he informed her in a mock-excited tone.

"But that was about thirty years ago." she whined, moving to stand up.

He nodded somewhat sympathetically. "You're the one that got us into this." he reminded her. "Get dressed quickly; your dress is in the closet. I'll be downstairs in the kitchen."

She watched him hopelessly as he went to leave. "What are you wearing?" she asked, stopping him.

He looked back at her with a slightly pointed look. "Well, your mother did pick out the clothes so, of course, she had to pick out the best."

She cocked an eyebrow. "And that means?"

"She rented me a pin-stripe suit." he told her flatly, ignoring her amused expression.

Lorelai stifled a giggle. "I didn't know they made them for ten year olds."

"Neither did I," he agreed dryly. "Now get dressed, my dad's waiting."

* * *

Because Liz was sleeping over her friend's house, William offered to let Lorelai sleep over the night before the marathon so that they could walk to the high school in the morning without having to drive the thirty minutes from Hartford to Stars Hollow. It was decided that Emily would meet up with Will at around ten that morning to see if Luke and Lorelai were still in the running. 

After changing into a navy blue dress with just a little too much tulle for Lorelai's taste at the bottom, Luke and Lorelai had quickly finished breakfast. They were running a bit behind schedule due to the fact Lorelai had been mocking Luke in his suit endlessly and Luke had ended up tripping her down the stairs, leaving Lorelai with a scraped- and now bandaged- knee.

"Hiya' Dollfaces, you enterin' the contest?" Babbette asked from her seat behind the sign up table.

Lorelai nodded eagerly as she and Luke signed their names on the clipboard. "Yes, Babbette, and we're gonna win, aren't we Luke?" she asked, nudging the grumbling boy beside her.

"Oh, yeah," he rolled his eyes. "Dancing for twenty-four hours non-stop, we're really going to win."

His sarcasm was lost on Lorelai.

Babbette smiled at the two kids. "Well, good luck to the both of ya'." she said to them with a wink, handing out two square papers with the number 53 on them.

"Thanks Babbette, we'll see you inside."

* * *

_Hour 1_

"Do you even know how to dance?" Lorelai asked as they reluctantly shuffled themselves around the dance floor, trying their best to remain on the outskirts where no one could trip them over.

Luke gritted his teeth. They had already gone over this six times. "I took the same cotillion class as you, of course I do."

"But can you dance well?" she asked in an exasperated tone.

"I was the one pulling you around when we were dancing, remember. It's you that can't dance." he reminded her.

"Oh," she began in an over-confidant tone. "I can dance. And I'll prove that to you in the next twenty-four hours."

He laughed. "First of all, I've seen you dance. You're horrible. Second of all, what makes you think we'll make it through the next twenty-four hours?"

"What makes you think we won't?" she shot back.

He shrugged, tugging on her hands a bit as they hung together loosely between them. "Maybe the fact that we have to be holding hands the next twenty-four hours without letting go."

"I'll keep a tight grip." she told him with a smirk.

He sighed; this was going to be a long day.

* * *

_Hour 4_

"Thank God- my mom is finally here." Lorelai let go of one of his hands and kept a firm grip on the other as she dragged him through the crowd.

"Does this mean we can leave soon?" he asked desperately as they approached the two adults talking.

"Lorelai! Luke! It's so good to see you haven't given up yet." Emily said, flashing them a rare smile as she leaned down to look at them.

"It's only been four hours." Luke reminded her dryly, outwardly showing his disinclination of being there.

"Yes, well," Clearly put off by Luke's bluntness, she pursed her lips. "You both look adorable." she said, affectionately placing a hand on Lorelai's arm.

Lorelai shot her mother a strange look then turned back to Luke, who looked equally puzzled by the chipper woman. "You did pick out the clothes, mom." Lorelai reminded her.

"I know I did, I was just complementing the two of you." Luke gave Emily a skeptical look, though she didn't seem to notice. "Are you having fun?"

"No," Luke responded truthfully in unison with Lorelai's overexcited "Yes!" Though her enthusiasm and loudness had overpowered Luke's dull answer.

Emily blinked, staring at Luke, but appeared to be unfazed by his lack of enthusiasm. "Well then, I'll let you two get back to your fun. And I'll probably be staying for the next couples hours, isn't that wonderful?"

Lorelai frowned. "I guess."

"Then off you go, you don't want to waste valuable dancing time, do you?"

Warily, Luke and Lorelai bid their goodbye's to the adults and made their way over to the middle of the dance floor, making sure to be out of earshot. "Okay, what was that about?" Luke asked immediately.

"See, I told you there was something up with her. She's acting crazy and I don't know what to do."

"So you just thought we could dance and then everything would be fine?"

She rolled her eyes. "Well at least we get some fun out of it," she pointed out.

"You really think dancing around for twenty-four hours with a bunch of lunatics is fun?" he asked incredulously.

She stared at him, pausing. "You know, you've been spending way too much time with your dad."

His eyes narrowed. "And apparently you've been spending too much time with your mom."

She gasped in offense, "Take that back!"

"Manipulator."

* * *

_Hour 7 _

"Okay, now she's beginning to scare me."

Luke rolled his eyes. "What now, is she smiling and waving at you from the sidelines, 'cause if she is we might have to get her committed." he said, feigning seriousness.

"She has a camera," she told him in disbelief; turning him so he was facing her.

Luke chuckled. "I didn't even know she knew how to work one."

"This is serious, what is going on with her. She's been so nice lately, the other day she actually asked how school was."

His eyes widened in mock-skepticism. "No way,"

"Yes, she did." She nodded in confirmation, apparently missing Luke's sarcasm. "I just don't get what's going on with her. Is it a mid-life crisis? I thought you had to be older for one of those."

"You seriously don't know what's going on with her?" he asked, laughing at her density.

"You know what's going on with her and you didn't tell me? Why have you been holding back, fill me in here, I'm going crazy."

Luke sighed. "It's 'cause of my mom. With you she probably doesn't want to be remembered as the world's most disinterested mother if something like this happened to her. With me she's just trying to fill in my mom's place."

"How do you know all this?" she asked suspiciously.

He shrugged, "I'm older than you, more smarter."

* * *

_Hour 10 _

"Flip me."

"What?"

"Flip me."

"Are you crazy?"

"No, you're the crazy one."

"What makes me the crazy one?"

"Because you don't wanna flip me."

"No, it's obvious I'm crazy for dancing with you."

"You just can't resist me."

"You didn't even bother to ask me."

"So will you?"

"Will I what?"

"Flip me."

"No."

"Please."

"No."

"Twirl me?"

"Why?"

"Because just standing here is really boring and my feet hurt."

"Then what would twirling you do to make it feel better?"

"It wouldn't."

"Then why should I."

"Because I'm bored."

"Well I'm bored, too."

"Then twirl me."

"Just shut up."

"Not until you-"

She yelped in surprise as he dropped one hand and spun her around quickly, pulling her back towards him immediately as he reached for her hand again.

"We should do that again."

"It was a one time thing."

* * *

_Hour thirteen _

Luke and Lorelai stood side-by-side; each having one arm wrapped around the others shoulder as their heads leaned on one another. A sudden loud horn drew them out of their sleepy state and both of their heads collided as they shot up in perplexity.

Using his free hand to rub his head, he looked over as people lined up together. "What's that?" he asked Lorelai as she subtly began to tug him over.

"Well, I was talking to your dad last night and he mentioned something called a runaround." she told him, acting as if she was fascinated by it.

"A runaround?" he asked warily, frowning upon it as he and Lorelai moved through the crowd to the front of the group.

She turned back to face him with a fake smile plastered to her face, her hand gripping his tighter. "You're a fast runner, right?"

He didn't have a chance to answer as Taylor Doose's voice rang out through the megaphone. "Ladies and Gentlemen, on your marks . . . get set . . . and go!"

Suddenly he was being pulled through the crowd by Lorelai's hand. "I'm going to kill you, you know that, right?" he asked her once he caught up with her.

"Not right now, though." she said through pants as she hurried to keep up with everyone else. "We've got to win."

"Round and round they go, but when the song stops, nobody knows! But the last five couples that finish behind the red line are automatically out, so hold onto your partner and move, move, move!" Taylor's voice boomed, the amusement evident as he looked on at everyone else.

"I hate you." Luke told her a bit breathlessly.

She shook her head determinedly as she staggered lightly. "Now is not the time for hate."

"Then remind me to hate you later."

She nodded. "Will do." she said, beginning to gasp for air.

"How much longer?"

"I don't know, your dad said it didn't last that long."

The horn sounded and almost everyone collapsed to the floor, including Luke and Lorelai who laid side-by-side. "Ten minute break people, ten minute break."

"Remind me to never ever join a dance marathon again." Lorelai whined, turning to look at Luke.

Noticing her stare, he glowered at her, weakly kicking her in the shin.

She winced in pain, but her tone was unfazed. "Ow,"

"I hate you."

"It's not my fault." she defended halfheartedly.

"This," He gestured to the room around him from his spot on the floor. "Is your entire fault because you decided that for once in your life you had to be the golden child."

"No."

"Yes."

"No."

He paused, moving with much effort to stand up. "Yes." he said, staggering away toward his dad in hope for something to eat.

She pouted, trying to move to sit up but failing completely. "Luke? Help me?"

He continued walking.

* * *

_Hour seventeen _

Luke's arms were currently wrapped around Lorelai's waist as she reciprocated in an awkward and tired hug, the two of them shuffling their feet from side to side. "I wanna go to bed." Lorelai stated groggily against his shoulder, her voice coming out muffled.

His eyes snapped open in shock, having almost forgotten where he was. "Me too."

"How much longer?"

"Seven." He told her simply.

She lifted her head off his shoulder, squinting her eyes as she adjusted to the light. "That's too long."

"So we're leaving?" he asked, his drowsy tone holding an ounce of hope.

"We can't leave." she told him defiantly.

"We've been dancing for seventeen hours. That's long enough, isn't it?"

"I don't know."

"Then can we leave?"

"No."

"Why?" he asked, exasperated as he pulled her off of him to look her in the eye.

She rubbed her free palm against her confused face. "I forget."

He made a move to drop both of her hands but she clung to him desperately. "Get off of me." he demanded through gritted teeth, doing his best to shrug her off.

She pouted. "No, Luke, please. I want to win, I never win anything."

"You won Candyland the other night." he reminded her.

She wrapped her arms tighter until they locked around his back. "But I never won a trophy."

"You don't need a trophy. I'm tired and I want to go home and go to bed."

"Luke, please. I promise I'll never ask you for anything ever again." she said with complete seriousness, looking up at him with hopeful eyes.

He sighed. "Yes you will."

"I know I will, too. But I really, really want to win this." She noticed his resolve fading and smiled inwardly. "Please."

"You owe me."

"And you'll never let me forget it." She smiled contently as she adjusted herself more comfortably against him and his arms rewrapped themselves around her.

* * *

_Hour twenty-one _

"How many people are left?" Lorelai murmured into the crook of Luke's neck. Her arms were currently wrapped around Luke's neck while his arms were locked around her waist.

He mumbled an incoherent number, stumbling as they continued to sway clumsily.

"Hmm?"

He pulled his head off her shoulder where it had been resting the past hour and a half. "You look." he told her more clearly with closed eyes, repositioning his head to lie with his cheek on her shoulder.

"I can't open my eyes." she said, her words slurred with drowsiness.

"Then guess."

"Maybe five?"

"That sounds right."

There was a pause.

"If I fall asleep will you hold me up?" Lorelai asked.

Luke shrugged lazily. "I dunno. How much do you weigh?"

"You know, my mom told me it's rude for a man to ask a lady how much she weighs." she informed him knowingly.

"Then I won't hold you up."

"There's only four more hours left, it's not that long."

"There's only three left." he reminded her calmly, not even bothering to answer her question.

"Even less," she pointed out.

"Yeah, you think you can make it?" he teased lightly, taking comfort in her hands around him as the soft jazz played in the background.

She nodded tiredly. "Mmhmm."

"That's good." He grinned. "Are you falling asleep? 'Cause I don't think I'll hold you up if you are."

She mumbled something against his neck incomprehensibly, tightening her arms.

"If you fall asleep, I'm gonna quit, okay?" he asked quietly, the need for sleep overcoming him.

She smiled, "Mmkay,"

Barely minutes later, he felt her body loosen against his and he struggled to hold her up. With much effort, he managed to drag her about ten feet towards the bleachers where his dad was asleep before accidentally dropping her, causing her to wake up, wincing in pain. "What happened?" she asked grumpily, her eyes fluttering open briefly before shutting them again.

"We're out of the contest." he told her, dropping himself to the ground. He let out a whimper of pleasure and tiredness as he laid himself down next to her, the feeling of no longer being on his feet seemed like pure ecstasy.

"We lost?" she asked sadly, weakly punching him with the hand closest to him.

"It's your fault."

She chose to ignore his remark. "Let's go over to the bleachers, they look more comfortable." she suggested, pointing over to William.

He groaned. "Can't move."

"Carry me." she demanded.

"Did you not hear me when I said I couldn't move?"

"You're such a drama queen sometimes, Luke."

"I'm going to bed."

"On the floor?"

"Well I'm certainly not walking anywhere anytime soon."

"Night Luke."

"Night Lorelai."

* * *

"A seven year old, Luke! A seven year old beat us!" Lorelai cried out dramatically. "And it's all your fault!" 

He scoffed, somewhat amused by her antics. "It is not my fault."

Her eyes widened significantly. "It is so your fault! You left."

"You fell asleep. I told you I wouldn't hold you up."

"You said that after I fell _asleep_, though."

"No, I said that right before you fell asleep. I told you that I was gonna quit if you couldn't hold yourself up and you agreed." Their conversation had been going on for hours ever since the winner had been announced. Now they were at the Danes' home and up in Luke's bedroom, trying to fall back to sleep to make up for the lost hours. Though Lorelai wasn't letting him off that easy.

"Well you're a guy. Guy's are supposed to be strong, aren't they?" she asked expectantly as they laid side-by-side on Luke's bed.

He sighed. "Will you shut up?" he asked, not even bothering to answer the question as he turned on his side away from her.

"But we lost to a seven year old; doesn't that bother you at all?"

"Apparently it's bothering you."

"Of course it's bothering me!" she exclaimed loudly into Luke's ear as she tried to turn him back over so he was facing her again. "I'm nine, you're ten, and we lost to a seven year old."

He groaned, pushing her off him. "You do remember he was with his mother, right?"

"So, if he wasn't I know we would have won."

"How would we have won? When you fell asleep, there were still, like, five other couples dancing. He wasn't the only competition."

"Luke, if-" His hand suddenly clamped over her mouth, preventing her from speaking.

He glared at her. "You know what? I'm leaving. I'm going into Liz's room, locking the door and going to sleep. I don't want to see you for at least six hours. Go to sleep." He removed his hand, ignoring her pout, and got off the bed, walking to the door.

"Aren't you upset that we lost to a boy named Kirk and his mother, though?" she called after him, wincing at the sound of the door slamming in the next room over.

"Goodnight Lorelai!"

* * *

To all you who think Luke and Lorelai won't be as close without Emily and Amy's friendship, well I'd never do that to my Java Junkie's. Their friendship will only get stronger as they get older.

So thanks for reviewing the last chapter. I appreciated them so much! And I listen to Coldplay when I have to write emotional scenes, they're very inspiring. I hope that the length of this chapter will make up for all the short ones in the past. And this was un-beta'd so I'm not sure if its that great.

Reviews are to me as controlling others is to Taylor.


	8. Missing You

Friends Forever

Lorelai's eleven and Luke's twelve

June/July 1979

* * *

**839 Fun Camp Way**

**West Newfield CT**** 06123**

**Cabin 12**

**June 18, 1979**

Dear Luke,

So far this summer has been horrible. I still can't get over the fact that my parents decided to ship me off to camp. I mean, what were they thinking? That I needed to socialize more? We planned to spend the summer in Stars Hollow together. Isn't that socialization at its best? We were going to swim at the lake with Liz all day and find all the paths that lead to the back of Mr. Doose's new market. But here I am, stuck at a camp located on ' Fun Camp Way' with no friends at all. What is with that street name? This camp, my friend, is not fun. Nothing here is even remotely fun. Canoeing and basketball and hiking, it's practically torture. Not even we would have done this much exercise this summer. Summer is for relaxing and sleeping late. Not waking up at five in the morning and not being able to set foot back into bed until nine at night.

Yesterday, all the boys, you know Chris Hayden, Digger Stiles and Aaron Leman (We called him Lemon because of his weird shaped head)? Well we were on a stupid canoe (and I have yet to find out the reason they make us do that) and Digger pushed me into the lake. Yup, camp is a fun, fun place. (Hopefully you noted the heavy sarcasm there). And the day before that I woke up with a spider on my little cot thing. It was huge and staring at me and when I screamed, loudly, I got yelled at for waking everyone up and had to wash up all the tables after lunch as a punishment. And I still fell off the bed and hit my head on the dresser next to me. Hard! Now I have a giant bruise and every time I look at myself in the mirror I'm reminded of the horrible times I'm having here. Stupid small cots. Stupid spiders. Stupid camp!

Your summer better be more fun then mine. And if it is, when you write back, please don't tell me. But then again, I am living off your happiness so write me a letter of both fun and not so fun things.

So now, here I am, stuck in a cabin with two sets of bunk beds. One in which I am stuck on the bottom bunk with Amanda Cushman above me, snoring loudly. And the worst part is that I don't think she's showered in the six days we've been here. Gross, huh?

I just checked the clock and noticed the time. 2:30 A.M. You know why I'm writing you a letter at this time? Because they frown upon human contact outside of these camp walls. Not that the camp has walls, they're more like very tall picket fences that I wouldn't be surprised of they held barbed wire at the top and guard dogs on the other side. Yup, you can send me all the letters you want but I think I can only send one or two every two weeks. So you're lucky that I chose you to write this letter to. The other one will most likely be addressed to Richard and Emily, complaining and begging to come pick me up. Today, they (they meaning the freak counselors that believe choosing summer fruit names instead of their own) decided we should express our artistic ability and make clay pots with a real pottery spinning wheel. I accidentally let go of my clay and it hit Chris Hayden in the back of his head. He got all mad at me and I have to say, it was the most amusing thing to happen to me here so far.

It's getting a little late and I bet tomorrow is going to be another day full of exciting fun. (Hopefully you noted the sarcasm there, again). You better write back, okay? I miss you. And tell Liz and your dad I miss them too. Only about six more weeks left here. I hope you send me a letter or two because I am ready to go crazy. Again, I miss you and I want to come home soon. Have a couple peaceful weeks without me.

Your Best Friend Ever

-Lorelai

P.S. - Make sure you remind Emily and Richard I'm having a horrible time. And also tell them that I will be eternally grateful if they picked me up early.

* * *

**28 Peach Street**

**Stars Hollow CT 06125**

**June 26, 1979**

Lorelai,

I got your letter and I have to admit, I actually feel a little bad for you. The summer around here doesn't sound as eventful as your's. Harry, the mayor, decided it was time to add yet another festival to the town and my dad dragged me and Liz there. It wasn't the same though, without my mom or you. I still don't understand why my dad still makes us go, though. This one was about all things summer. And by the way, I talked to your mom; she said that there is no chance you will be coming home early and that this is an experience you won't regret. I did try though, so don't get mad at me.

Actually, just the other day me and Liz were at your house while my dad and your dad were talking and your mom suggested we could go up in your room. I didn't know you had a diary. Or that you still had a crush on me, but hey, I'll never mention this again if you don't want me to. Liz misses you too, though. She said that the summer hasn't been the same since you left. Especially all the time we spend at the lake, lounging around and doing nothing. (That was an attempt to get you envious of my summer so far).

And don't worry, when Chris, Digger and Aaron get back I'll beat them up if you want me to. You know I hate them and I still don't understand how you could even slightly tolerate Chris, though the pottery display would have been very amusing to witness. I can't even believe what you have to go through night after night with Amanda. But I think that the most amusing thing to see is you exercising. I just can't even picture it. Make sure you take some pictures; I'll need evidence for the future.

By the way, something new and exciting actually happened here in the Hollow. There's a new girl over on Apricot Ave. named Sookie St. Something, (She's not a saint like the religious people if that's what you're thinking) I'm not sure of it, though. But I'm pretty sure she's around your age. Me and Liz ran into her at the grand opening of Doose's Market, not the best place to hang out, by the way. The owner, Taylor, is a major control-freak. Sookie's nice, though, she and Liz made plans to hang out at the lake or something, maybe by the time you get back there'll finally be another girl in town for you to hang out with. And then you'll finally leave me alone.

But the Hollow just isn't the same this summer. No craziness named Lorelai or anything, its bliss. However, for some strange reason, I miss you too. It's weird, we've never spent the summer apart and now suddenly you're gone for seven weeks. I mean, we've never even spent more than three weeks apart as far as I can remember. So, I hope for some reason that I will probably regret you get sent home soon, maybe act up a little or something. We need a little time together before summers over.

-Luke

P.S. - I know this probably means nothing to you but I made the summer all-star baseball team. It's a good thing, just to let you know.

* * *

**839 Fun Camp Way**

**West Newfield CT**** 06123**

**Cabin 12**

**July 3, 1979**

Dear Luke,

Congrats on the baseball thing, sounds exciting. Or well, more exciting than camp, that is. I still can't get over the fact that my mom won't let me come home early; doesn't she know how torturing this "experience" is? The other night I was actually planning on running away from here, catching a cab and driving to Stars Hollow to stay with you the rest of the summer, but then I realized that I would never be able to escape past the guards. Yes, there are guards here and no, you shouldn't be surprised. I'm serious when I tell you I think my parents sent me to some type of boot camp instead of the joyful summer camp the proclaimed it to be.

And what exactly were you thinking when you read my diary! Don't you understand a person's boundaries? That was a very personal book you read through and I'll give you a heads up right now that when I get back you will be facing the wrath that is Lorelai Gilmore, I think all this exercising is going to make me stronger. And whatever you read is not true.

So there's finally another girl in the Hollow, huh? Sounds exciting, though I know you'll begin to get a little jealous once she becomes my best friend and I ditch you for her. And then you'll come running back to me and you'll be pleading for me to be your best friend again. Have you ever noticed how much our friendship, not to mention lives, could be compared to an episode of 'Day of Our Lives'? But seriously, is she nice? Fun? Exciting? Anything like me or is she more like you, you know boring and annoying? Maybe you could tell her about me and how amazing and cool I am. And no, I didn't even think that the St. in her name had anything to do with a saint.

And you wouldn't believe what Chris Hayden tried to do yesterday. Kiss me! Chris Hayden, the idiot that he is, tried to kiss me while we were in the middle of making s'mores around the camp fire. So now whenever I eat the delectable goodness that is chocolate, marshmallows and graham crackers melted together, I'll be sadly remembered of him. And what's really horrible about it is that when I get back and we go on that camping trip your dad promised, I won't be able to eat any s'mores without thinking of him and therefore ruining my trip which will in turn ruin yours. So that means you're going to have to let your manly protective side for me show and threaten to beat him up. Maybe spit and hike up your shorts, too while your at it.

I know you miss having me around; your life must be so mind-numbing without me that you've considered pulling a 'Sylvia Plath' and sticking your head in an oven more than once. But I wouldn't blame you, considering the fact that seeing me has always been the highlight of your day. And don't worry, I won't tell anyone your secret, as long as you never mention my diary again.

Alas, (God, I feel like an old English writer) tomorrow is the Fourth of July and that means no Stars Hollow fireworks at the lake with you and Liz for the first time in forever. Instead I have to continue on as if it were a regular day because in all fairness to the one kid that goes to camp here from Canada, we shouldn't celebrate a holiday that his nationality doesn't. I mean, listen to how un-American this is- no hamburgers or hot dogs will be served here on the Fourth of July. It's like a holiday sin! Because instead we have to eat the gross Mac and Cheese they serve us that taste worse than Liz's under-cooked pancakes. I wouldn't even be surprised if the punish all the kids that wear red, white or blue.

I miss you a lot. Remind my parents I hate them.

Sincerely, the girl that got stuck in a boot camp formally known as Lorelai Gilmore

P.S. - I decided that any picture of me taken here will be burned and by the end of these torturous seven weeks there will be no evidence that I was even here. Other than the carving in the floor that reads 'This place is hell'. God, I hope no one is screening these letters.

* * *

**28 Peach Street**

**Stars Hollow CT 06125**

**July 15, 1979**

Lorelai,

Again, I am sorry for all things at camp that you hate, which is most likely everything you've done but try and think on the bright side. Only 18 days to go. And don't think that I've been counting down because I'm not.

I told your parents you hate them. They didn't take it too well though. My dad yelled at me and grounded me for even saying it in the first place. So due to you five days of my summer were wasted inside. But luckily, three of the five days were raining so it wasn't that bad.

Sookie St. James, that's the new girl's name. She came to the lake with Liz and me last week and I'm positive you two will get along just great. She's very loud and somewhat crazy (more than you) but her personality is very chipper, almost to an annoying extent. I told her a little bit about you and she says that she can't wait to meet a girl her age in town. I also let her know that there's a chance that you might me going to Stars Hollow Middle School. You have talked to your mom about that, right? Well Sookie said that from what I've said (and don't worry, it's all good stuff other than the occasional mention from an entry of your diary), that you sound like an exciting girl that knows how to have fun. And has good taste in guys.

And I am sorry about reading your diary, and telling Sookie about it, I didn't get your letter until after the fact. But than again I already did know most of the stuff written in it. But I promise that I will never bring it up again unless the situation is called for.

Fourth of July sounded horrible for you. Especially the Mac and Cheese, I still can't forget the disgusting taste of Liz's pancakes and it's been about six months. Mine wasn't as bad. Yet another festival to attend to, though. But me and Brian Foster ended up sneaking into Doose's closed market and rearranging all the shelved items. The next day we were sure Taylor was about to have a breakdown. You should have seen him, heck you should have heard him and I wouldn't be surprised if you did. He was yelling and accusing everybody that walked into the market. At one point I thought he was going to cry. But then he demanded that a town meeting would be held for his case.

Luckily he hasn't suspected me. I'm still trying to figure out why, considering some of the stupid stunts we've pulled in the past. And got caught for it.

Did Chris really try and kiss you? Because I swear if you want me to I will punch him. In the face. Hard. I still can't get over the fact that your mother actually believes he's a 'smart, well developed kid'. What does she know? And I am sorry about the s'mores. Truth is, with all the excitement going on around town, I forgot about our end of the summer camping trip. You sure you're still up to it after spending seven weeks in hell? I mean, there will be tents and not-home-cooked-food and a lot of outdoorsy stuff like a lake and maybe even a campfire.

Well, anyways, this is probably the only other letter you'll be getting from me because by the time you get this and write back and I receive it, you'll be home. So don't do anything too awful, I don't want you to have to spend the rest of your summer locked up in your room. Good luck with your last couple of days and I hope you make the best of them. We all still miss you.

-Luke

* * *

**839 Fun Camp Way**

**West Newfield CT**** 06123**

**Cabin 12**

**July 24, 1979**

Dear my beloved best friend Lucas,

Can you believe it? Only 7 more days!! In 7 days I'll be home and we'll be able to spend the rest of the summer running around town and avoiding my parents. I've decided that since they sent me to this place I would avoid them fully for the rest of the summer because there is nothing worse than being sent back here next summer. And I know you're counting down to my return, too. You can't deny it.

You know, I'm so deliriously happy at the moment that even Amanda's snoring isn't affecting me. I'm giddy, that's how happy I am. Seven Days!

Now, by the time I got your letter, I had already done something bad enough to get me expelled from this place and sent home permanently but after some thinking I realized that my parents would lock me in my room for the rest of the summer so I bribed the counselors not to call my parents or tell them anything about the incident at the lake. Because, believe me, when you read this I don't even want to think about what'd you say but if I didn't tell you, you'd just end up reading it in my diary that I wouldn't be surprised if you had told the whole town about. I, Lorelai Gilmore, on a dare, flashed the swim team.

My punishment, though, was that I had to clean up after each meal for an entire week and then since I refused to call the counselors by their fruity nicknames, I had to add another five days to that punishment if I didn't want my parents to find out. But the swim team did seem a little more appreciative towards me after the fact, now that I think about it.

I can't believe you and Brian snuck into Taylor Doose's market. If you two get caught it's suicidal. It's worse than the time we tried to spike the punch at that Billy Listler's tenth birthday party with your parents alcohol. And you're worried about me having to be locked up in my room for the rest of the summer? What about yourself? I mean, you two could have at least waited for me to help out. I'm ashamed.

But Sookie sounds interesting. Tell her I'm looking forward to meeting her. And just because you told her about the things from my diary doesn't mean I don't have any dirt on you. And that also doesn't mean you can get cocky about yourself. I mean, after what you went and did means that I don't have that great taste in guys like she said. Not that I like you as more than a friend that is.

And you know, to make up for that I wouldn't mind you knocking Chris unconscious. He's been really aggravating lately. I think it's because I "accidentally" pushed him into the campfire when he tried to sit too close to me. And then some of the appreciative swim team members offered to beat him up but I declined and told them that's what you're for. They want to meet you but I seriously doubt that's going to happen. Especially since I might have exaggerated a bit on the fact that you're a junior in high school and that you're the captain of the wrestling team.

And no matter how bad this camp experience has bothered me, there is nothing that could keep me away from our yearly camping trip. You, me, Liz, and your dad at the cabin for a weekend. That is about a thousand times more fun than this place. I mean, with you guys there's the option of getting out of bed at five or hiking or fishing. I can actually relax and still have fun while being away from my parents.

And on that note, I am going to let you go. I can't wait to see you again. I miss you. Tell Liz and your dad I miss them too.

Love, the one and only Lorelai Victoria Gilmore you know.

P.S. - I hope you enjoyed the time away from me while you did because once I get back there is no separating us.

P.P.S. - What does P.S. mean?

P.P.P.S - Seven Days!!!!

* * *

Not my best piece but I decided that this would have been something different than all my other chapters. How was it? Criticism and praise is welcome. Please!

Comments? Suggestions? Favorite Parts? Questions?

Reviews are to me as apples are to a pregnant Lorelai.


	9. Unfair

Friends Forever

Lorelai's twelve and Luke's thirteen

July 1980

* * *

"But I don't want to go to Chilton, Mom!" Lorelai cried out through clenched teeth as she jumped off the couch in the living room. 

"Well, that's too bad, Lorelai. You are going that's final. I don't care what kind of excuses you have made up, but you are going to Chilton!" Emily told her sternly as she followed Lorelai's suit and stood up from her chair, shoulders squared and lips pursed tightly.

"But why can't I just go to Stars Hollow Middle School?" she pleaded desperately, her frustration from her mothers short answers evident. "Luke goes, Liz will be going when she's old enough, why won't you just let me go to a public school for once? Stop caring about what the society thinks and care about what I think. I want to go to Stars Hollow, all my friends are there."

"You have friends here." Emily dismissed, sighing tiredly at Lorelai's over-dramatic words.

"Like who? All of my friends are in Stars Hollow, not that you would know." she said, mumbling the last part to herself as she crossed her arms defensively over her chest, bracing herself for the next reason.

Emily rolled her eyes, knowing and hating how Lorelai liked to stretch the truth a little too often. "What about Christopher? You two seem to be such close friends,"

"I hate Chris! I've never liked Chris. Chris doesn't like me that much either- remember when he pushed me off a swing when I was six? And then he and Digger pushed me in the lake last summer and-"

"That was so long ago, Lorelai, he probably didn't mean anything of it, you both were so young."

"He doesn't even know how to say my name, mom." Lorelai reminded her flatly.

"I think it's cute how he gave you a nickname." Emily said with a small smile.

"I just want to go to school with Luke, please mom." she begged, pouting slightly though she knew it never worked with Emily.

"You need to learn how to make new friends, Lorelai. You and Luke have been friends long enough, you need to take some time apart and learn that you don't need each other for everything." Emily told her, dismissing Lorelai pleads.

"You and Amy did everything together for years, longer than before I was even born." Lorelai countered. "Now I don't want to make new friends, all I need is Luke and I'm fine, no one else gets me the way he does. Luke is my best friend mom, don't you get that I need him, I don't even know what to do without him."

"That is exactly why we're enrolling you into Chilton. You and Luke need to lead separate lives and stop clinging to each other because one day, one of you won't be there and you won't know what to do with yourself." Emily explained loudly, hurt and loss evident in her tone as she desperately hoped Lorelai would understand.

Dismissing her sadness, Lorelai racked her mind for another point to be made in her defense. "But- but I have fun in Stars Hollow." she said strongly, though knowing the words themselves were as weak as her chances to have herself enrolled into a public school.

"Schooling is not meant to be fun. You go to school to be educated, not pal around with other classmates."

With narrowed eyes, she glared back at her mother. When Emily showed no signs of giving up, Lorelai uncrossed her arms, throwing them to her side angrily. "I'm not going to Chilton and you can't make me!" she screamed, stomping her foot for emphasis.

"Lorelai Victoria Gilmore! You are going to Chilton no matter what, even if I have to drag you there myself." Emily said, sounding rather threatening as she did her best to stay calm.

Lorelai took a second to stare angrily at her mother before rushing up the stairs, shouting the words "I hate you for doing this to me!" behind herself irritably without taking another glance at her stunned mothers face.

* * *

"Hey Lizzy, is Luke there?" Lorelai asked into her furry pink phone, trying to swallow the lump in her throat. 

"Yeah, Lorelai, hold on. Are you okay?" she wondered, sounding concerned.

Lorelai sighed and plopped herself down on her bed, staring aimlessly at the glow-in-the-dark stars her and Luke had placed on her ceiling one day that summer. "I'm fine; can you just put Luke on the phone, please? It's important."

"What is it?" she asked with an intrigued smile.

Lorelai sighed an impatient sigh, rolling her eyes in obvious annoyance. "Not now, Liz, I want to talk with Luke."

"Fine, hold on." she said, clearly upset as she then proceeded to scream Luke's name loudly until he picked up, "Here he is, bye Lorelai."

"Bye Liz," she said, trying to stifle a laugh as she heard Luke grumble on the other side of the line.

"Hello?" he grunted into the phone.

"I hate my mom." she said rather bluntly to him, fingering the frills on the pillowcase under her head.

"You don't hate her," Luke sighed, taking the phone and bringing it up into his room.

"Yes, I do." she corrected, nodding her head knowingly even though Luke couldn't see.

"Why do you hate her today? Is cable out? Nothing on that interesting on the Spanish channel?" he inquired dully, sitting himself down on the chair next to his desk.

Lorelai's eyes narrowed at Luke's mocking but she chose to ignore it. "She's making me go to Chilton Prep." she cried out dramatically into the phone.

"Well, that sounds like fun," he said sarcastically, not even bothering to stifle the laugh forming in the back of his throat. "Don't they have to wear plaid?"

"Great," she sighed mockingly. "Now I get to match your bed sheets,"

On the other side of Lorelai's locked bedroom door, she heard someone knocking. "Lorelai, I'm leaving," Emily called out, obviously waiting behind it for Lorelai's acknowledgment.

"Whatever," Lorelai mumbled making sure she was just loud enough for her mother to hear.

"What was that?" Luke wondered.

"Emily's going to her bridge club meeting." he told him, feigning joy.

He rolled his eyes as if he should now this. "Of course,"

"I don't want to go to Chilton," she whined, pouting through the phone as she kicked her feet childishly.

"Well there's no other choice barring home school with Emily," he reminded her, chuckling quietly at the thought of Lorelai being taught by Emily.

"Now that sounds like fun," she remarked dryly.

"Why don't you just stop being your stubborn self and tell your mom you're okay with going to Chilton."

"Because I'm not stubborn and I'm not okay with going to Chilton."

"Well what other choice is there?"

Lorelai sighed, frowning. "I don't know but what I do know is that I am not going to school with the Chilton freaks." she said firmly.

"Well maybe you and Chris Hayden could team up for some science project and become best friends," he joked, trying to sound reassuring.

"Well it matters; I only befriend the kids with the plaid bed sheets," she kidded lightly.

"So I just got lucky when my dad decided to take a special trip to the linens store in Hartford that day three years ago,"

She smiled. "Now if only I had your luck,"

"So what's the real reason you don't want to go to Chilton?" he inquired, throwing his feet up on the desk and tilting his chair back slightly. Knowing Lorelai, this was bound to be a long conversation.

"How much time do you have because I am sure this will take awhile." she said.

"I've got some time before I have to make dinner,"

"Okay well first is that I have no friends here," she began dejectedly.

"You've got to have at least one friend." he said, trying to do his best and stifle a laugh at her patheticness.

"Not one." she emphasized. "And another reason is that I hate private schools, I've been going to one my entire life so far; give me a chance to have a new experience in life."

He sighed, "They can't be that bad."

"Oh, I'm sorry you're right. The uniforms, no friends, strict teachers that'll give you detention just because you drop your pencil during a lecture, and rich snobs that make life even more difficult isn't that bad," she told him mockingly.

"Well it could be worse," he said optimistically.

"How?" she deadpanned.

He paused briefly, "I don't know, you didn't give me enough time to think up another reason,"

Lorelai sat up suddenly, smiling as an idea entered her head. "Maybe you should go to Chilton so I wouldn't have to be alone!" she suggested happily.

He sighed, "Lorelai, you know I can't do that, even if I wanted to I couldn't," he reminded her desolately.

"And why not?" she asked, clueless as to Luke's slight protest.

He bit his lip, slightly frustrated with Lorelai's ability to be so dense at some times. Shaking his head, he said, "You know we don't have the money for that, we barely have enough money to keep the three of us fed and the electricity on."

"But maybe my mom and dad could pay for it," she suggested desperately.

"You really think my dad would let your parents pay for my schooling?" he asked skeptically.

She smiled hopefully. "If you told him how important it was to me, yes."

"Lorelai, it wouldn't work, okay? Just give it up."

"I will not give up." She gasped mockingly. "Wonder Woman never gives up,"

"Yes well wonder woman also wears tights and a cape and has a golden lasso. You haven't been Wonder Woman in years," he told her flatly.

She frowned. "Well if my mother hadn't thrown it away the day after Halloween I would still be her."

"Have you ever noticed whenever you're mad you always let the conversation leave its fault on Emily?"

"It does not!" Lorelai protested indignantly.

"So, any plans on getting out of Chilton?" he asked, not-so-subtly switching the subject.

"No," she pouted, the sadness rearing its way back into her tone.

"You do realize that there's nothing you can do about it, right?" he asked, chuckling at her whimpers in protest and disapproval.

"I just don't understand why I can't go to public school. You don't get suspended in public school for not getting dressed for gym."

"Because she's Emily. Nothing she says makes any sense unless you're wearing pearls or a tie." he reminded her knowingly.

"Do you think she'd notice if I ran away to live with you?" Lorelai asked hopefully.

"She might not but the cook's might notice that there's a lot more food left in the fridge." he said, smirking without missing a beat.

Lorelai frowned. "This is serious Luke," she scolded strictly. "Not a time for joking around and your sarcastic remarks."

"And I'm being serious when I tell you there's nothing you can do but live out the next six years at its fullest." he told her, trying to raise her spirits and lighten the conversation.

She whimpered dramatically. "Six whole years?" she asked, "God, I think I might kill myself by then."

Rolling his eyes, he tucked the phone under his chin and stood up. "Look, I have to go cook dinner, it's getting a little late. But if you have any more complaints, feel free to write them down and recite them to me at a later time," he suggested mockingly.

"We still on for the movies this Saturday?" she asked, ignoring his comment and trying to get all thoughts of Chilton Prep out of her mind.

"I'll be at your house around six." he confirmed.

She smiled. "Good, any idea's as to what to see?"

"Uh, no, not really, what about you?"

She shrugged. "No idea, we'll just see what's playing then?"

"Guess so. Oh, and I saw Sookie around town yesterday. She said that she's been trying to call you but you never answer."

"Thanks, I'll call her later. So I'll see you Saturday then, and tell your dad I said hi." she added with a smile.

"Okay, see ya' Saturday, bye."

"Bye," she said, hanging up the phone and throwing her head back against the massive pile of pillows in frustration.

* * *

I want to thank you all for the pleasant reviews last chapter. They made my day. And I'd like to thank my awesomely amazing beta Hannah. You rock! As you can see, this is a not-so-good filler chapter but I already have the next chapter finished. I'll post it Wednesday if we reach the 200 review-mark (only 13 reviews) but if not, I'll try to post it by Saturday.

Comments? Suggestions? Favorite Parts? Questions?

Reviews are to me as gossip is to Babbette and Miss Patty.


	10. Lusting

Friends Forever

Lorelai's thirteen and Luke's fourteen

August 1981

* * *

"Ah, the Stars Hollow baseball tournaments, one of my favorite times of the year." Lorelai beamed, momentarily tripping over the pitchers mound as she and her new friend Sookie crossed the baseball field over to get something to eat. 

Sookie's brow crinkled in confusion. "I thought you hated baseball, not to mention every other sport requiring an athletic ability."

"Oh, I do." she agreed, nodding her head eagerly. "The tournaments themselves are boring, but they always have great food and tons of things to do while you sit around and watch."

Lorelai and Sookie had hung around with each other whenever Lorelai was in town since the summer Sookie had moved in. Lorelai liked to consider Sookie her best friend that's a girl because no matter how nice it was to be able to talk about what outfits looked better and which boy was cuter, no one could ever replace Luke's best friend position.

"Oh," Sookie nodded understandably. "So you go to these every summer?"

Lorelai snorted, walking up to the line for small concession stand. "Please, this is, like, the third time Stars Hollow has ever participated in a baseball tournament since I was born. Usually Luke and I go to these together to mock the horrible players, or to just steal some extra candy from the concession stand but this year he's in it so now I am going to pass on the obligation to you to help keep me from falling asleep."

"And I will follow through on that,"

As they approached the front of the line, Lorelai ordered a hot dog, soda and box of Jujube's while Sookie ordered the same, only substituting the hot dog for a sandwich. When Sookie mentioned she was going to go over and say hi to a couple of her friends from school, Lorelai took the chance to go over and talk to Luke before the game started. By the time she made it all the way over to his side of the field, he and one of his teammates were playing catch. Leaning over the fence, she cupped her hands around her mouth, "Hey, you in the baseball cap, get over here."

When half the team turned toward her, she waved, smiling directly at Luke who was rolling his eyes and beginning to walk over towards her. "I see you made it,"

"Yeah, about an hour later than planned but we can put the blame on my mother."

He nodded, "We always do."

"So, you think you guys got a chance of winning today?" she asked, taking a handful of candy and tossing them in her mouth.

"Lemme have some," he said, holding his gloveless hand out. After she poured some out of the box, he shrugged. "We might. Coach says that their best player got into some sort of accident, so that might give us the upper hand for once."

"You know, I'd feel really special if I got to see Stars Hollow win the first baseball tournament in, like, thirty years."

"And that's why we're going for the win." He paused, taking the soda out of her hand despite her grumbling protests and took a sip. "I thought you came here with Sookie."

She nodded. "I did but then she ditched me for her other friends. So care to explain how this goes again?" she asked, gesturing toward the field behind him.

"I already did at my last practice, and the practice before that and every game you went to last season. You should have listened."

She gasped. "I did so listen; I just need you to recap everything for me. This is more important than one of those idiotic practices you have when you all just sit around grumbling about how hot it is and how you all feel like you're going to have a stroke-"

"'Cause that's not important at all." he interrupted dryly.

She continued, "This is more significant, I want to be aware of what I'm watching."

He shook his head. "Too bad, I gotta get going. Come over and see me after the game, okay?"

She smiled. "Okay, um, break a leg." She paused before noticing that she was missing something. "Hey!"

Halfway across the field already, he turned back, looking at her questioningly.

"Give me back my soda." she demanded.

He tossed it at her, causing her to emit a shriek as the now empty cup almost hit her.

"Jerk," she called after him when he started walking away, though the small smile was still present on her face.

* * *

Around the ninth inning, Lorelai was beginning to get restless. She had already read through the only magazine she brought and had handed it over to Sookie to let her have a chance to skim through it. "So, c'mon, tell me- who's your most recent love interest?" Lorelai asked, turning away from the confusing game to face Sookie who was currently flipping through an entertainment magazine. 

Sookie looked up at her, surprised by her directness. "Love interest?" she repeated, "Like a guy?"

Lorelai rolled her eyes. "No, like a candy, see, lately I've been leaning towards Pop Rocks, though I know not to ever drink them with Coke- I'm not going to be the next Mikey, but I don't know, I kind of like the Whistle Pops because my mom can't stand them." She sighed at Sookie's confused face. "Yes, I mean love interest as in a guy."

She shrugged innocently. "What if there isn't one?"

"Then you must be fantasizing about Pop Rocks because that smile on your face says it all. Now spill," Lorelai ordered.

She sighed. "His name is Jeremy,"

"Like Jeremy Jones?" Lorelai interrupted.

Sookie nodded. "Yeah, except I don't think he knows how to play the cello."

"Well, most guys don't."

"And that's a good thing. He was in my science class and my algebra class, too." Sookie said with a wistful expression.

Lorelai grinned. "Aw, is he cute?"

She nodded. "See for yourself."

"He's here?"

She pointed vaguely to the baseball field. "The guy in the field, he's back on the grassy area, number sixteen."

Lorelai stood up, leaning over the people in front of her for a better look. She squinted her eyes before narrowing in on number sixteen. After a few minutes of staring, she sat back down, satisfied. "Well, from what I can tell, underneath that baseball cap he's looking pretty good."

"Isn't he? The other day I passed by him walking towards Doose's and I dropped my wallet and he picked it up, handed it me, smiled and said 'I think you might need this'." she said giddily.

"He did? That's so sweet. I think he might just be a keeper."

Sookie frowned. "And now you're mocking me." she accused.

"I'm not mocking you; I think it's great that you found someone to crush on."

"Yeah, me too," She paused for a minute before looking over at Lorelai, who looked like she was trying to understand what was going on down on the field. "What about you?"

Lorelai snapped her head over to Sookie quickly. "What about me?"

"Any cute guys over in the Hartford area?" she inquired innocently.

She scoffed and shook her head slowly. "I think you know the answer to that."

Sookie sighed impatiently as Lorelai refocused on the game. "Come on, Lorelai, still?"

"Hey, it's not my fault he's so irresistible."

"Listen, I'm not trying to be mean or upset you or anything, but don't you think it's time to give up on Luke and focus on someone else? He obviously only sees you as a friend."

Lorelai looked over at Sookie with a serious face. "I like him, Sookie. And I'm not going to stop liking him just because he says he doesn't feel the same way. I can't just stop liking him after years. It's like breathing-"

"Breathing?" she interrupted skeptically.

Lorelai rolled her eyes. "Maybe not that severe, but it's up there. And why are you suddenly against me and Luke together? You were always saying how great it would be and how much you wanted it to happen- what' going on?"

"Nothing," Sookie defended quickly. "Like I said earlier, he seems to only see you as a friend. I just don't want you to get hurt."

Lorelai gave her a skeptic look, "How could I get hurt?"

She shrugged uneasily and was about to speak just as the rest of the crowd burst into a deafening applause. She gave Lorelai a confused look and the two of them stood up, leaning over the people in front of them to see what happened. She turned to Lorelai, who was clearly still puzzled. "I think it's over," she clarified.

Lorelai's eyes widened in relief, "Thank God, I thought it was never going to end."

Sookie nodded in agreement. "Same here,"

"So we won?"

"I think we did, or else we wouldn't be clapping."

Lorelai stood up, brushing off her jeans as she hopped down the bleachers and back onto the ground, trying not to knock anyone down in the process. "Why don't we go congratulate Luke and then we'll figure out something for us to do," she suggested.

"Sure, any ideas?"

Lorelai shrugged, "Not really but maybe we could- Sookie, who's that?" she asked curiously, pointing over to Luke who was smiling and talking with a blonde girl around his age.

Sookie's eyes widened considerably as she quickly turned her head over where Lorelai was staring intently. "Who?" she asked innocently.

Lorelai warily pointed to where Sookie was already staring. "That girl over by Luke. And, oh my God, is he flirting with her? Sookie, who is that girl flirting with _my_ Luke?"

"Well, technically he isn't _your_ Luke-" she began carefully, grimacing slightly at Lorelai's evident jealousy.

"Hey, I've known him thirteen years; I think that allows him the title of 'my Luke'. So I repeat, who is she and what do you know about her?" she demanded.

Sookie sighed reluctantly and turned around, gesturing for Lorelai to do the same so Luke wouldn't catch on. "Okay, see, I was going to tell you sooner but I didn't know how and I didn't want you to get upset or to hate me because I thought that maybe this was something Luke would have told you and then I thought that maybe I should wait until he told you but I could tell he never told you because today you were all happy and I had a feeling that once you found out you'd be depressed or something so then-"

"Sookie! Breathe! Calm down and just tell me what's going on," Lorelai interrupted desperately, waving her hands around in a pleading motion.

"She's Luke's girlfriend." she said straightforwardly, wincing as she waited for Lorelai's reaction.

Her eyes widened in sheer surprise. "She's what?"

"Well, I've seen them together a lot lately. You know- at the movies, walking around town, eating pie at Weston's."

Lorelai gasped. "He was eating pie with her at Weston's?"

Sookie narrowed her eyes at her confusedly. "I just tell you that I think Luke has a girlfriend and all you can say is something about pie?"

"No, it's just-" She sighed sadly before explaining, "Eating pie at Weston's was our thing."

Sookie frowned sympathetically as she nodded in understanding.

"What else do you know about her? Are they serious?"

"Her name is something French- like Mary or something."

"Mary isn't French, though."

"I know, I know, I think it was- oh! Marie. Her name is Marie."

"Okay, so, Luke and Marie. Marie and Luke." She paused thoughtfully before shaking her head. "Nope, that doesn't sound that good together, does it? It just doesn't flow. Guess they're gonna have to break up."

"Well, we don't even know if they're officially together." she reminded her.

Lorelai shook her head before gesturing over to Luke. "Sookie, he's smiling at her. When have you ever seen Luke smile genuinely at a girl that wasn't me or Liz?"

"He smiles at me sometimes."

"That's only because he thinks your crazy."

"So just because he's smiling at her means they're together?"

"No, it means Luke likes her. And if Luke likes her they're either together or they're gonna be because by the way she's looking at him, she obviously feels the same way."

"You know, maybe you could try and be a little optimistic about this. He could just be acting polite,"

"But you mentioned the movies and the walking and the pie."

"I know- I was just trying to help."

"Sorry," Lorelai mumbled, crossing her arms over her chest.

"How about we go over there and congratulate Luke, then. And we'll see what he introduces her as and we'll go from there?"

Still mumbling, Lorelai reluctantly looked up at Sookie's hopeful expression. "Fine,"

"Okay, well I'm gonna go over and grab something at the snack stand while you go over there and talk to Luke." Lorelai began to protest but Sookie held a hand up to keep her from talking. "You go over there and talk to Luke and I'll get you an ice cream, my treat."

"I'm not going over there alone," Lorelai scoffed. "I'll just go over with you."

"You're going over there alone and by the time I get back, I don't want to see you and her in the middle of some sort of catfight."

Lorelai laughed dryly. "I'll do my best but you better hurry,"

Sookie nodded and walked away quickly.

With a fake smile, Lorelai made her way over to Luke quickly, adding an extra bounce in her step as she braced herself for the worst. "Hey, you did great." she said, doing her best to sound appreciative.

Surprised by the interruption, Luke turned around to look at her. He smiled briefly before scoffing. "Like you even know what happened," he replied playfully.

Lorelai gasped mockingly at accusation. "Please, you, you know, hit the ball with the bat. And you caught the ball when it was in the air. And then you slid on the dirt and the crowd cheered."

He nodded. "That's exactly what happened."

With a forced smile, Lorelai turned her head to the blonde, who seemed a bit put off by their conversation. "And who's this?"

Before Luke could stutter out an explanation, the girl in question held out her hand politely towards Lorelai, who, in turn, reluctantly shook it. "I'm Marie; I go to Stars Hollow Middle School with Luke. I don't think we've met."

Lorelai discreetly narrowed her eyes before looking around for any sign of Sookie, hoping that she'd hurry up and get over there soon. "Well, I'm Lorelai. I live in Hartford. Luke and I have been best friends for, what?" She turned to Luke with feigned confusion. "Thirteen years?"

"That is how old you are," Luke agreed warily.

Lorelai shook her head, smiling lightly. "Wow, time just seems to fly by, doesn't it? It feels like only yesterday we were kissing behind that tree over there." she said, pointing over to the park behind the bleachers.

Luke's eyes widened. "What?! Lorelai, we weren't kissing, _you_ were kissing _me_. And it's not like we did that all the time. It only happened once." he sputtered embarrassedly, turning from Marie, who looked a bit surprised, to Lorelai, who was smirking triumphantly.

"If that's what helps you sleep at night..."

He looked over at Marie. "She's crazy," he told her awkwardly.

She nodded in slight agreement, eyebrows raised. "Oh,"

The lull in the conversation was broken when Sookie bounded over, handing Lorelai one of the two ice cream cones. "So Luke, that was a great game."

Luke nodded and shrugged shyly. "Yeah, well,"

Innocently, she turned to Marie, who was looking somewhat uncomfortable. "And who're you?"

"Well, Sookie, we've already established that she's Marie and she goes to school with Luke." Lorelai said tightly.

"Oh, right. I think I've seen you around town. I'm Sookie St. James."

"Yeah, I think I've seen you around too,"

Another awkward silence engulfed the space around them. Lorelai cleared her throat. "So Luke, you, uh, ready to go hit the mall and see a movie?"

"We didn't have plans, though."

"Uh, yeah we did. We do this after every baseball tournament."

Luke looked at her strangely. "The last time we came to a baseball tournament you were nine."

"I know that," She swallowed nervously. "But we did have plans."

"No we didn't," he argued, looking back and forth between Lorelai and Marie.

"Luke," Lorelai sighed, tapping her foot. "I think I would know if we made plans or not."

"I think I would know too, and from what I can remember, we didn't."

"Um, Luke?" Marie interrupted uncomfortably, fidgeting under Lorelai's irritated look. He looked up at her questionably. She leaned toward him, whispering, "We don't have to go tonight, if you already have plans, you don't have to cancel them. We didn't have anything set in stone."

Luke uneasily looked over at Lorelai and Sookie who were watching them intently. "No, it's fine. I can go," He gestured to Lorelai and Sookie, "We didn't have plans. I don't have to go with them, we can still go out if you want." he offered, oblivious to the shocked gasps emitted from Lorelai and Sookie behind him.

"Luke, its fine; hang out with your friends tonight and tomorrow night we can go out instead."

"Are you sure? 'Cause I don't have to go out with them, they won't mind." he insisted, waving a hand in the air carelessly.

"Yeah, it's fine. I'll see you tomorrow?" she asked hopefully.

He nodded. "Yeah, tomorrow,"

She awkwardly patted him on the arm before waving an uncomfortable goodbye to Lorelai and Sookie.

Once she walked away, Luke turned to Lorelai. "Why did you say we had plans?" he asked, perplexed.

Lorelai's eyes widened uneasily. "Because we did," she lied desperately.

"No we didn't."

"Yes we did."

"No we didn't."

"Yes we did."

"No we- ugh, God you're making me sound like a five year old." he said, frustrated.

She narrowed her eyes. "No I'm not."

"Okay," He sighed. "I'm not getting into this again, so I'm gonna go home, shower, change and then we can go out and pursue those supposed plans we have, is that okay?" he asked reluctantly, picking up his baseball things and tossing them into his duffle bag.

Lorelai smiled gratefully, "That sounds like fun- we'll meet up with you at your house. First we're gonna head over to Doose's and grab some snacks to sneak into the theater, 'kay?"

"Yeah, okay. And I won't take that long- half an hour at the most."

"We'll see you then,"

* * *

The next day around noon, Lorelai and Luke were sitting in Weston's, waiting for their server to bring over a slice of pie for each of them. When there was a pause in the conversation, Lorelai fiddled with the end of her napkin before looking up at Luke somewhat nervously. "So... what's the deal with Marie?" she asked bluntly. 

Luke's eyes widened in surprise. He shrugged, a small blush creeping up into his cheeks. "The deal with Marie," he repeated, pausing to think.

"Yeah, you know- the blonde that was staring at you yesterday like you were David to her Jade."

His face changed from thoughtful to confusion. "David to her Jade?"

She sighed impatiently. "The couple from the new movie _Endless Love_?"

"When did you see that?"

She rolled her eyes. "Sookie and I went to see it last week at the theater. But that's not what we're talking about. Marie, what's the deal with Marie?"

"I don't know if there's a 'deal' with her," He paused as Lorelai let out a silent breath of relief. "Yet,"

Her eyes widened as a knot in her stomach formed. She looked down at her lap, blinked a couple times then looked up at him. "Oh," she said softly, nodding understandably as her breath got caught in her throat.

Luke grinned, oblivious to Lorelai's jealously. "Yeah, I mean, she's great- smart, funny, cute." He played with the fork in front of him, avoiding Lorelai's gaze as he spoke quietly. "I really like her, you know, I'm just not sure if she likes me that way or not."

She sighed before forcing a small smile. "She'd be an idiot if she didn't." she said gently, the knot in her stomach tightening as his face lightened up.

He looked at her skeptically. "Please," he scoffed.

"Stop being modest," she reprimanded, tapping his hand on the table lightly with hers. "You're a great guy and any girl would love to have you,"

He wrinkled his nose up. "Okay, you're getting to sappy on me. Let's change the subject."

She laughed in relief, though the jealousy and hurt was still coursing through her veins. "Good, so, are you looking forward to the new season of _General__ Hospital_?" she asked as the waiter brought over two slices of apple pie and set them down on the table.

" _General__ Hospital_?" he asked with a laugh, breaking the residing tension between them. "Since when do you watch that? And when do you even have the time to watch it?"

"Well, one of the maids introduced it to me awhile back and it became addictive. Usually they recap it in one of my mom's magazines so I just steal it from her when she's done with it. The storyline's real great, though."

He took a bite of pie then relaxed against the back of his chair, "Tell me about it, then." he encouraged, grinning softly.

She smiled at him before explaining the complications between Luke and Laura ("They are just _so_ meant to be together, despite everything that happened in the past."). She loved just talking freely with Luke, it was something that just came natural after a longtime friendship, she supposed. And regardless of the fact that he didn't want to be with her and wanted to be with Marie- the smart, cute, funny blonde, she was still glad she had him as a friend. Plus, they were still young; they had much more time in the future for that.

* * *

I love jealous Lorelai. And there will probably be more of her throughout the story. I had so much fun writing this chapter. And I want to thank Hannah for beta-ing. And all of you who reviewed. You make my day!

Comments? Suggestions? Favorite Parts? Questions?

Reviews are to me as flannel is to Luke.


	11. Surprises

Friends Forever

Lorelai's thirteen/fourteen and Luke's fifteen

April 1982

* * *

At around seven o'clock on a Wednesday, Lorelai was up in her room at her desk, just having completed most of her homework. Dinner was still about fifteen minutes away so she quickly picked up the phone and brought it over onto her bed. She sat up against the headboard, cross-legged as she quickly dialed the most familiar number to herself other than her own. Right as she heard the person on the other line pick up, she immediately said, "So, do you have any idea what tomorrow is?" Not even bothering to wait and check if it were Luke who would pick up the phone.

"Lorelai?" She heard William ask, a smile evident in his amused tone.

"The one and only." She paused. "That you've met."

"I expect that you want to speak with Luke?"

"That is why I called, yes, but I don't mind talking to you."

"Well I have it on authority that tomorrow is your birthday, is that so?" he asked teasingly.

She smiled brightly. "It is so. And then in four years, I'll finally be a legal adult and I'll be able to finally get away from Hartford."

"Four years, the time really does seem to fly by. It seems like only yesterday you and Luke were selling lemonade so you could save up enough money to buy a dog."

Lorelai laughed. "That was, like, eight years ago, William. How on earth could you possibly remember that?"

"It's the little things that stick. And plus, you both were so excited."

"It was me that was excited," Lorelai corrected. "Luke always had that irrational fear of dogs."

"He did, probably got that from his mother, too." William paused for a second. "I think he just came downstairs, Lorelai, hold on."

She heard muffled voices on the other line of the phone before she finally heard Luke take the phone. "Lorelai?"

"Yeah, hey, go upstairs in your room. I have something I want to suggest but I don't want you to be around your dad when I do it." Lorelai demanded hurriedly.

Luke's eyes narrowed in confusion, he tucked the phone in the crook of his neck. "Um, yeah, hold on." He quickly grabbed a water bottle from out of the fridge in the kitchen before mouthing to his dad that he was going to be up in his room. "You don't want me to do anything illegal, do you?" he asked uncertainly as he shut the door to his room and sat over at his desk.

"I don't think its illegal." she said seriously after a thoughtful pause.

"You're kidding, right?"

"Hear me out, first. So you know how you said you were having trouble picking me out a birthday present?"

"Lorelai, I promise you that I picked something out you'd like. You don't have to keep obsessing over it considering I'm not going to tell you what it exactly is." he said, exasperated. It had taken him forever to pick something out for Lorelai due to the fact she had nearly everything. But in the end, he liked to believe he did a fairly good job.

"That's not what I'm talking about," she said in an oddly calm voice.

"What are you talking about?" he asked suspiciously.

"I've got a plan."

"And the chances of me allowing you to drag me into this plan are...?"

"Considering it's my birthday and you'll do anything for me, very high."

He rolled his eyes, sighing. "Go on, I'm listening."

She smiled, pausing for a dramatic effect. "We ditch school tomorrow."

Luke immediately laughed wholeheartedly; the thought of Lorelai skipping school was crazy, sure she had skipped gym class one or two times, but Lorelai skipping a whole day? Definitely crazy. Lorelai had always tolerated school, dreamt of going to Yale like her father when she was eighteen. Never in his right mind would Luke ever think he would be hearing those words out of her mouth. But when she never gave any indication that she was joking, he stopped, abruptly turning somber. "You're kidding, right?" he asked with a small chuckle.

"Why would I be kidding?" she asked in complete seriousness. "My dad gets up at, like, six and leaves before I'm even up, and my mom has to be somewhere in Litchfield early in the morning and will be there until three so she says that I have the house to myself tomorrow morning, other than the maid, of course, so they'll never know. We can sleep late and then take the bus and go wherever we want."

"So that would work for you, exactly how would it work for me? I don't think my dad will allow me to skip school when you don't even have permission."

"Don't doubt me, Luke. This plan of mine has no faults. We had to watch this boring health video today when I created the flawless 'Operation Luke and Lorelai Skip School for Lorelai's Fourteenth Birthday'."

"'Operation Luke and Lorelai Skip School for Lorelai's Fourteenth Birthday'? A little long, isn't it?" he joked skeptically.

"That's why I shortened it to OLALSSFLFB." she added seriously.

Luke rolled his eyes. "Because that's not at all difficult to remember."

"Do you want to hear my plan or not?" she asked impatiently.

Luke sighed before shrugging and relaxing against the back of his chair. "Why not?"

She smiled before enthusiastically explaining OLALSSFLFB. "Okay, so you tell your dad that you're going to crash at your friends place for the night because you need to finish up a science project. He'll agree because your dad is awesome and will believe you. Then you hop on the next bus to Hartford and get off at the stop a block away from here. You'll walk towards the back of the house and climb that big tree big tree, you know, the one I fell and broke my arm on a couple years back? Well, you can hop the fence and then you very quietly climb up onto my balcony and I'll be waiting in my room, you following so far?"

"Yeah," he said, obviously surprised at how detailed her plan really was. "I'm following, but I've got a question. 

"Save your questions till the end." she told him professionally. "Okay, so you'll spend the night on the floor in my room because we don't want to chance them finding you in the guest room. Then we'll sleep late and in the morning we'll have the maid call the school, saying that we won't be going so my mother doesn't somehow get a phone call in the middle of the day. I'll just ask her if she knew if my mother had called me in sick or not and when she says she doesn't know or if she hadn't, I'll convince her that she has to call me in, and then she can do the same for you, only we'll twist the words a bit. Trust me; this new maid is really gullible. And once that's done, we can spend the day we want to spend it and be back for dinner at six-thirty." She paused, taking in a deep breath. "Any questions?"

"Yeah, actually, I've got a couple of them. What if your mother comes in during the middle of the night and finds me asleep on the floor?"

"Um," she paused. "You could sleep in the closet?" she suggested uncertainly.

"Please, there's barely any room in there for all your clothes, let alone me." He scoffed. "Guess you didn't think this out thoroughly enough, did you?"

She paused thoughtfully. "Wait! You could sleep in the bathroom,"

"I am not sleeping in the bathroom." he protested indignantly. "I'll wake up in the morning and I'll have tiny square imprints all over my face."

"Nuh-uh, not if you sleep in the bath_tub_. You know, with lots of pillows and blankets?"

He sighed, pausing. "Well, first of all, we can forget about the maid calling my house. My dad won't be home until around nine and I'll definitely make it home before then to erase the message, but what about the maid? What if she tells your mom that we're not at school?"

Lorelai rolled her eyes as if it were obvious. "We blackmail her."

"Blackmail? We blackmail the maid? How?"

"We confuse her; you know, tell her we know what she was doing last Saturday and freak her out."

"What was she doing last Saturday?"

"That's the whole point," she said as if he should know. "She'll think we know what we don't know and it'll freak her out making her think we know what she was doing and then she'll agree. Trust me on this, it'll work."

"And if it doesn't?" he asked, his tone full of dread and doubt.

She sighed in mock-sadness. "Then we'll just have to accept our punishment, whatever it shall be."

Luke was baffled by her behavior. While he and Lorelai acted out on a somewhat regular basis, they were always simple and more carefully thought out to make it more difficult to get caught, this was complete unlike her. She had always hated being yelled at by her parents, she had never been that great with criticism. Over the years, though, he had noticed how she became more flippant about it each time she was accused of something she did or didn't do. This time, however, she seemed completely unlike, well, Lorelai. "You know, there are so many ways for us to get caught here." he pointed out, hoping to get somewhat of a reaction he recognized from her.

"C'mon, Luke, stop worrying about the what if's. Let's just do this without any worrying about the consequences." she said, a smile evident in her careless tone.

Luke silently and slowly shook his head, even more baffled considering it was usually him egging her on to be less careful about everything and her being reluctant to agree to what he was suggesting. "How do I get my dad to believe I'll be at my friend's house all night?" he grudgingly asked.

"I'll call you back in five minutes." she smiled. "But don't tell your dad it's me calling you back again, okay?"

"Yeah, I'll talk to you in five."

* * *

After Lorelai had called him back, she explained to Luke that he'd just tell have to tell his dad he was spending the night at his friend Tim's house because he forgot all about a science report that was due Friday. Then he'd hop on the next bus to Hartford, as planned, while she ate dinner. And now, about a half hour later, give or take a few minutes, Lorelai was lying across her bed on her stomach, leafing through a magazine as she listened to her new cassette player she had gotten as an early gift in the mail from her aunt.

"So what exactly are the chances of us getting caught tomorrow?" A voice from behind her suddenly asked, causing her to nearly topple fall off her bed, letting out a loud yelp of surprise in the process.

"God," she gasped, her hand held over her rapidly beating heart. She stood up, narrowing her eyes at Luke, who was smirking back from his position leaning up against her now open window. "Make a noise or something, I mean, I didn't even hear you come in."

"Well, that was the whole point of me sneaking over," he said, walking over to sit down on her bed. "Not being seen or heard."

She rolled her eyes, picking up the various papers strewed across her bed and tossing them on her desk. "Yes, but now Emily will probably be up here any second wondering why I screamed."

"Then that's your fault, you shouldn't have screamed."

"But you should have at least said something or knocked on the window quietly. You didn't have to be all stealthy."

He shrugged. "You said to be quiet, I was quiet. You made the rules, I just followed them."

"Since when do you ever listen to me?"

"It's your birthday tomorrow; I thought I'd be nice."

Lorelai sat down beside him, crossing her legs down as she cupped her chin in her hand and rested her elbow in her knee, "Yeah, well-"

She was interrupted by an impatient knocking at the door, followed by a "Lorelai? What is going on in there? Why on earth are you shrieking? Honestly, Lorelai, the neighbors probably think we're being attacked." The doorknob jiggled. "And why is the door locked?"

Lorelai's eyes widened, almost to say 'I told you so', as she roughly pushed Luke off the bed. "Where should I go?" he asked.

Frantically, she pointed to underneath her bed. "If you open the closet door she'll hear you," she whispered harshly over his protests. "Now hurry," She kicked him swiftly from behind as he tried to slide underneath it, just barely fitting. "I'll be right there, mom." she called out, jumping over her bed and quickly bounding towards the door. She swung it open, slightly out of breath. "Hey, what were you saying?"

Emily narrowed her eyes at Lorelai. "What's going on up here?"

"Nothing," Lorelai said innocently. "I just accidentally fell off the bed. I'm a klutz, you know that." she shrugged, chuckling at her own stupidity.

Emily pushed the door open wider, peering in and looking around suspiciously. "I thought I heard someone else in here, is there someone else in here?"

Lorelai forced a scoff. "Mom, why would I be hiding someone in my room, much less, who would I be hiding in my room at eight o'clock on a Wednesday night?" she asked skeptically.

Emily, still a bit wary, looked around Lorelai's room once again. "Very well, I guess. I assume you have your alarm set for tomorrow morning?"

"Six-thirty on the dot." she lied with a reassuring smile. "Don't worry mom, I don't need you to send a maid to wake me up in the morning anymore. I'm usually already awake before even she gets up here. You don't have anything to worry about." she stressed.

"I still feel horrible for not being able to see you on the morning of your birthday." she said sadly.

Lorelai shrugged it off. "It's fine. I'll see you at dinner, right? And it's not like we even have time to see each other in the morning so it all works out good."

"I guess..." Emily sighed. "So after school you and Luke will meet up-"

Lorelai interrupted her mechanically, obviously haven gone over this many times before. "We'll hang out for a bit and then be back in time for dinner at six-thirty. We'll stay out of trouble, we won't do drugs, we won't steal, and we won't get either a tattoo or a piercing." Lorelai droned on dryly. "Really, mom, Luke and I hardly, if ever, get into trouble; you'd think that after years of friendship you'd realize that and you'd trust us to make the right decisions."

"Hardly isn't exactly the word I would use, Lorelai." Emily reminded her doubtfully. "And I do trust you and your decisions, it's just that, you know that Luke grew up in a different community than you, and as much as you like to believe that he is the perfect role model for you, his town and his lifestyle isn't what you should be influenced by. Especially at the age he is now."

Lorelai rolled her eyes. "What is he gonna do, Mom? Join a gang and start smoking? Even you know that's ridiculous."

"You never know these-" She stopped abruptly, narrowing her eyes at something behind Luke.

Lorelai immediately turned around, her eyes searching frantically for any sign of Luke. After not noticing anything out of the ordinary, she turned back to face her mother, a little calmer than seconds before. "Mom?"

"Why is your window open?" Emily wondered almost knowingly.

Lorelai's eyes widened briefly before relaxing. She struggled to keep a composed state as she shifted her feet. "It was hot up here," she explained simply. "What, am I not allowed to open the window at night?"

"You never have your window open though."

"It never gets this warm up here." Lorelai retorted.

Emily pursed her lips. "And you wouldn't lie?"

Lorelai rolled her eyes. "Mom, I have nothing to lie about. It was hot up here so I opened the window. Case closed."

"Very well, then. I guess I'll be seeing you tomorrow night?"

"Yes, mother, we've already gone over all this. I'll see you tomorrow night, Luke in tow just in time for dinner."

"Okay, and remember, don't get into any trouble tomorrow, and remember to bring a sweatshirt to school if that's where Luke is picking you up, it's still cool outside. I still can't fathom why you have the window open saying its warm when it's almost sixty degrees outside."

Lorelai shook her head slowly as her mother continued to rant then began to lightly push her mother out the open door. "Good_night_ mother." She sighed as her mother finally left the room and waited until the footfalls were gone before telling Luke it was safe to come out.

"Your Mom's suspicious." Luke said immediately after he got up.

"She doesn't suspect a thing," Lorelai dismissed, waving her hand at him. "And now its seven-forty-five and I've got to get my homework done."

"But we're not even going to school tomorrow." he pointed out logically.

"Exactly, which means that if I get all my homework done now, I won't have to do any tomorrow."

"Then what was the point of me coming over so early. I could have caught the eight thirty bus if I had known I'd have to sit here and watch you do your homework."

"But if you left at eight thirty then your dad would have been wondering why you didn't leave for your friend's house earlier."

"You know, I'm starting to wonder why I agreed to this in the first place."

Lorelai smiled, walking over to her bed. "Because you wanted to listen to my new _portable_ cassette player?"

He looked at her in disbelief. "Are you serious? Your parents got you one? Much less let you open it up before your birthday?"

"Of course not," She tossed it to him. "I got a package in the mail today from my Aunt Hopey, it arrived a day early and the maid gave it to me instead of my mother. I, of course, didn't tell my mother this 'cause she'd flip out, but instead opened it and found that. It works awesome. She also sent me twenty bucks to buy my own tapes."

"That's awesome."

"See, now you can go make your bed in the bathtub and listen to that while I do my homework."

Luke, turning said cassette player over in his hands, looked up at Lorelai with a smirk. "See, this is why I'm still friends with you. You always get the neatest things before they're practically on the market."

"Well, it's good to know that this friendship is so beneficial to you."

* * *

After a terrible and uncomfortable night sleep for Luke and a restless one full of nervousness for Lorelai, they both woke up around nine A.M. with both of Lorelai's parent's already gone. Lorelai, being the first to wake because she had the alarm on the table beside her, had the job of waking Luke up. She tiredly staggered into the bathroom and let out a short giggle, unprepared for the sight before her.

Luke, bearing a height of five feet, seven inches, had his legs hanging over the end of the tub, the one sheet haphazardly strewn across his midsection, both arms hanging over the edge and his head thrown back with him mouth open, clad in only a pair of plaid boxer shorts and a t-shirt. Lorelai walked over and lightly swatted his arm.

"Get up,"

He grunted.

"Get up you idiot or I'll turn the water on."

That seemed to wake him up a bit. He flinched before struggling to open his eyes. "God," he groaned, slowly sitting up while cradling his neck with one hand. "That had to be the worst, most painful night sleep I've ever experienced. You better appreciate what I'm doing today."

"Yeah, yeah, we gotta get up and get going soon or else the maid might call in after it's too late."

"Then stop standing there and get dressed."

"Get dressed, right, okay, well, hurry up."

"I will, you however, take twenty minutes. Go!"

About a half hour later, the two of them were hesitantly making their way down the stairs. "This is a good idea, right?" Lorelai asked unsurely, a tight, anxious knot forming in her stomach.

"It'll work," Luke assured, even though his doubts outweighed his certainty. He still felt obligated to guarantee her that her plan would work out. He had a feeling she might begin to regret her choice but after spending a night in a porcelain tub; he wasn't going to let her off that easy.

Lorelai believed it though, and after taking a deep, calming breath, rounded the corner to where the maid was standing, dusting the vase full of fake flowers.

"Ms. Gilmore!" the maid, Claire, announced, obviously surprised. "And friend," she said, acknowledging Luke, who waved in turn.

"Yes," Lorelai began, clearing her throat. "Um, why do you seem so surprised?"

"Well, shouldn't you be in school?"

Lorelai feigned confusion as the knot tightened considerably. "Didn't my, uh, mom tell you? Since it's my birthday today, I don't have to go. She said that you were responsible for calling me in sick, you did do that, didn't you?"

Claire's eyes widened in shock, "No, Mrs. Gilmore didn't say such a thing."

"You do want to keep your job, don't you?" Luke asked, faking disbelief.

"Well, of course, I-I'll call right away Ms. Gilmore." she assured, still wide-eyed, before quickly walking away.

"That part went easy," Lorelai commented.

"Now all we have to do is convince her not to say anything about me being here or us ditching school to your mom."

"But we can do this. I mean, it can't be that hard. She's easily convinced, isn't she?"

Luke nodded. "She did give in quicker than I thought she would."

The maid burst back into the room. "I'm really sorry about that mishap Ms. Gilmore,"

Lorelai waved it off. "Oh, it's nothing. And I promise, I won't even tell my mom about it."

"Really?"

Lorelai nodded. "Absolutely, I mean, I like you, Claire. You're nicer than a lot of the maids we get around here."

"And there are a lot of maid that come through here." Luke added.

Lorelai agreed with him. "I sure wouldn't want this information to get to her, or what you did last Saturday in the pool house, either."

"The pool house?"

Lorelai shook her head sympathetically. "You don't have to act like you don't know. I saw. And if my mom were to either believe you or me, I actually think she'd believe me. So if I were to ask for something in return, well, we could just pretend today and last Saturday never happened."

"I'm still not sure I understand."

Lorelai rolled her eyes. "I know what you were doing last Saturday," she emphasized.

Claire blinked quickly. "But I didn't mean anything by it." she defended.

"My mom, however, would beg to differ if she were to find out. So we won't let her, okay?"

"Okay," she agreed immediately. "And what do I have to do in return?"

"Just pretend you never saw us." Lorelai explained simply. "If either of my parents ask, you never saw me."

Claire swallowed, nervously shifting her eyes. "Um, okay. Deal."

* * *

The two of them spent the majority of the day shopping for pointless items they came across in the strip mall over in Litchfield. Lorelai's anxiety had disappeared after they chose to eat a huge breakfast at a local diner. They had gotten their picture taken together, wallet-sized, at a booth on the sidewalk just to remember the day. In the picture, Lorelai had her arms looped around Luke's neck from beside him and they both smiled like idiots into the camera. After deciding to take break, Luke and Lorelai were now sitting on a bench at the town park, eating their ice cream and laughing. After they sobered, Luke looked over at Lorelai seriously. "So, uh, what's been going on with you lately?" he asked, trying to remain casual.

"What do you mean?" she asked, cocking an eyebrow.

Uncomfortably, he shrugged and looked away. "I mean, what's with this 'acting out' phase you seem to be going through? Ditching school? Without even caring what your parents will say when they find out?"

"_If_ they find out," she corrected before getting defensive. "And this isn't acting out; I'm not just going through a phase, okay? Can we drop it?"

"Or you can just come and talk to me about what's going on," he countered. "You can talk to me, you know. We practically tell each other everything."

She knew they told each other everything, aside from the one mishap the previous summer about his two month, now ex-girlfriend Marie, they did tell each other everything. "It's nothing, I've just gained a new perspective on life." she explained slowly.

"And that is?"

"Live life at its fullest and don't dwell on the future." She watched as his face contained his emotion well, leaving her clueless to what he was thinking. "Got anything to say about that?"

"It just," he shrugged. "It doesn't sound at all like you."

"Well it is,"

"You're always thinking about the future, though." he pointed out. "You're always wondering where you'll be in ten years and stuff. Where did you even gain this new perspective?"

"My friends." she said simply.

"Your friends...?" he asked, hoping for her to continue.

"Yeah, you know, Kristen, Alyson, Chelsea, Jake, Christopher."

"Christopher?" Luke asked, surprised. Lorelai had always claimed to hate him, and now she was hanging around with him? Though it did explain her careless view on life.

Lorelai nodded, remaining casual. "Yup, Chris Hayden. I mean, it's not like we're best friends or anything, I just hang out with him because he's been dating Alyson."

"Oh,"

"Yeah, I mean, he's still that annoying and bratty kid we've always known, but I've come to terms with the fact that I should at least tolerate him."

"Makes sense."

"It does." Silence ensued. "But I mean, even if he were my friend, it's not like you'd even have to like him."

Luke slowly took this in. "I guess."

"It's not like we always like the same people, take Marie for example."

He groaned, throwing his head back. "God, that was like, six months ago."

"But still," Lorelai shrugged. "I tolerated her because you liked her."

Luke's eyes widened. "You mean you like Chris, like that?"

Instantly, Lorelai shook her head. "No, no, absolutely not."

"Good, that's good."

"That's good?" Lorelai mocked, smirking at him.

"You can do much better than him." Luke told her seriously. "He wouldn't deserve you."

Lorelai smiled sweetly. "Thank you, that's, I think, the best compliment you've ever given me."

"Well don't get used to it."

"I won't."

"So, how about you open your presents now?" Luke announced.

Lorelai's face lit up. "Presents? As in more than one?" she asked excitedly.

Luke nodded. "Only one is from me, though." he clarified, patting his pocket for emphasis.

"And they both are small enough to fit into your pocket?" she asked, scooting over to sit closer to him.

He shrugged. "Well, they're both small."

"Small can sometimes be good, right?"

"That's what I thought when I picked you out your gift." he agreed.

"Then who gave you this one to give to me?" she asked.

He briefly looked down before meeting her questioning gaze. "So my dad and I were going through all the old crap in our attic about a month ago and we found this box. It was full of tons of my mother's things- books, jewelry, old clothes and pictures. Then we found this small box inside of it labeled Lorelai. Apparently it was a gift meant for your thirteenth birthday but because we didn't find it in time, you never got it. My dad and I decided we'd wait until your fourteenth birthday instead." He reached into his pocket, pulling out a small, blue velvety bag. "So, happy birthday."

She stared at him in surprise as he took her hand in his and enclosed her fingers around it. "You sure I should have it?" she asked timidly.

"You don't even know what it is, yet." he said, laughing softly.

"But still..." she protested, "This was your mothers, Luke. Shouldn't Liz be the one to have it or something?"

Luke rolled his eyes. "If she wanted Liz to have it, the card would have said Liz on it, not Lorelai." He nudged her still frozen hand. "God, you were so excited a minute ago. It's not going to blow up or anything, just open it or I might just consider taking it back and giving it to Liz."

"No," she said, shaking her head, waking up out of the trance she had been in. "I want it." She carefully began to open it, slowly untying the string at the top.

Luke sat still, watching her movements as if she were in slow motion. "For God's sake, Lorelai, the bag isn't part of the present!" he exclaimed impatiently.

She looked up at him, smiling apologetically. "Sorry, it's just..." she began, trailing off in hopes he'd understand what it meant to her.

He nodded. "I know, just... try and speed things up a bit."

She nodded before finishing untying the neat bow and opening the bag. She emptied its contents into her other hand, gasping as a vintage, diamond necklace fell out onto her palm. "Wow," she breathed, picking it up by the chain to stare at it. "Its beautiful." she said in awe.

Luke nodded warily in agreement. "And she wanted to give this to a thirteen year old?" He scoffed, shaking his head. "She's lucky we waited another year."

"You know," Lorelai began, looking over at Luke. "You really know how to kill a mood."

He shrugged, grinning. "It's a gift. And plus," he added, "We can't all be saps like you."

Lorelai gasped, feigning shock. "I am not a sap!"

"Please," Luke scoffed.

"It's called having a heart," Lorelai retaliated. "Something you apparently don't have."

"I have one," Luke defended,

"Right," Lorelai teased. "It's just buried under all that flannel you've been wearing." Luke rolled his eyes. "I mean, honestly Luke, what's with all the flannel lately, you're starting to give the Brawny paper towel guy some competition."

"Do you want me to help you put on the necklace or not?" he asked, silencing her jokes.

She smiled up at him sweetly. "Yes, please." He took the necklace from her hand turned her around, motioning for her to hold her hair up. She did so and he clasped the necklace together. She turned around and smiled. "How does it look?"

Luke shrugged. "Fine, I guess."

Lorelai rolled her eyes. "You can be such a guy sometimes."

Luke eyed her skeptically. "And other times I'm a woman?"

"No, other times you are sweet and nice. But like now, you're all," she deepened her voice, doing a bad imitation of Luke, "I need to go find me some more flannel and a comb to make sure my hair's all neat and fine, then we can go home and watch some football and drink our beers."

"I do not sound like that." Luke protested. "Besides, football isn't even in season."

"Well pardon me, then. So what's my other gift?" she asked, smiling at him hopefully.

"I hadn't intended on going with the whole jewelry theme," Luke began, pulling out a long black box. "But I found this months before the necklace, and since you're such a difficult person to shop for, I bought it."

She took it from him and opened it less carefully then she had with her other gift. She gasped at the sight of the sterling silver bracelet. "Wow Luke, you really know how to charm a girl. This is beautiful."

"It was cheap." he added, causing her to frown.

"Put it on me?" she asked, holding out the box to him in one hand while outstretching the other. He did so and she marveled at it. "You know, it feels different. Wearing these on my own accord without having my mother force me to do so."

"Well, you look nice." he said genuinely.

Lorelai gasped mockingly. "Luke Danes, was that a compliment?"

"No, all I said was that you looked nice."

"In my book, that's a compliment."

"Well your book was written by a crazy woman."

* * *

They spent the rest of the day walking around and saw a movie around four, giving them just enough time to get back to the Gilmore's without being yelled at. They paused once they reached the front door. "Do you think they'll know?" Lorelai asked, hesitating to open it.

"I don't know. Someone from the school might have called your mom to ask why you weren't in school or something."

"That makes me feel much better."

"I wasn't trying to make you feel better, I was stating the facts."

Lorelai sighed before opening the door. "Might as well get this over with." she muttered, walking in.

Luke followed her, heading strait for the living room. Both Gilmore's were sitting down, drinks in their hands, talking quietly. "Um, hi Mom, Dad, we're back."

Emily looked up and smiled. "Oh, that's great. Happy birthday, Lorelai."

"Yes, happy birthday." Richard said, standing up and walking over to the drinks. "Two cokes?"

Luke and Lorelai both politely answered yes before sitting themselves down on the empty couch. "Lorelai," Emily began, her eyes widening, "Where did you get such a beautiful necklace?"

Lorelai briefly looked over at Luke while fingering it. "Well, actually it was a present. From Amy." she added quietly.

"Amy?"

Lorelai took her drink from her father before nodding. "Yeah, uh, apparently Luke and William found it in a box of old things of hers and this one was meant specifically for me."

"Well, she always did have an exquisite taste in jewelry." Emily commented, still staring at it.

"Yeah, I really like it."

"And it will go along great with our gift to you," she added, looking over at her husband. "Won't it Richard?"

"I believe it will, Emily." Richard agreed.

"A present?" Lorelai gasped, "Can I have it now?"

Emily shook her head. "You know the rules, Lorelai; you have to wait until after dinner." She turned to Luke. "Do you know if your father or sister will be coming also?"

He shrugged. "Probably not."

"Well, then I guess this would be the proper time to escort ourselves to the dinner table, shall we?"

"We shall,"

* * *

After dinner and a short break for cake (Lorelai had, after all, rushed them so she could open her gifts sooner) Lorelai, Luke and Richard were seated in the living room while Emily went to retrieve her and Richard's gift for their daughter.

"Lorelai, this gift is from your father and me," Emily said, bringing out an extremely large bow wrapped delicately in silver paper.

From her seat, Lorelai smiled in anticipation. Usually presents that size were meant to be something good. "What could it be, what could it be?" she asked herself out loud as she tore apart the paper carelessly, causing both of the elder Gilmore's to frown in disapproval. She was left with a white box and after throwing the top off of it, she wished she hadn't. Her excitement faded instantly, though she recovered with a feigned, bright smile as she looked up at her beaming parents. "It's...wonderful." she stuttered, staring down at the enormous amounts of ruffles and frills all packed neatly into a white, extremely ugly dress.

Beside her, Luke repressed the laugh that was forming in the back of his throat. It was hard to choose what was funnier; the horrified face Lorelai was making or the dress itself.

"Isn't it?" Emily marveled, oblivious to Luke and Lorelai's opinions.

Lorelai shook her head from side to side slowly. "I couldn't imagine a better gift." she forced out, trying her best to sound genuine. Luke let out a short chuckle, causing Lorelai to her turn head and glare at him.

"I was thinking you could wear it to the dinner we have scheduled this Friday." Emily went on, softly stroking the front of the dress. "The Yale alumni will certainly be impressed."

Her eyes widened at her mother in shock. "The Yale alumni?" she asked, her face clearly showing how horrified she really was. She stood up, tossing the box on the table before gesturing wildly at it. "I'm not gonna let them see me in this. I want to get into Yale, mom, not be rejected by it before I can even submit an application."

"I don't know, Lorelai," Luke spoke up, obviously sarcastic. "I think they'd be real impressed just to see how you get into the thing. Is there even an opening, or is just a giant mass of frills?"

She glared down at him, "Oh, shut up, Luke! You're not helping."

"Lorelai, I don't understand, you just said it was a wonderful dress. Any girl meeting someone from an Ivy League college would dream to have such an outfit."

"It's a horrible dress, mother." Lorelai retorted truthfully. "Do you really think that I would ever in my right mind wear this-this... thing?

"Why wouldn't you. It's beautiful. Obviously you just don't have good taste, Lorelai. You're lucky you have me to help purchase your clothes, if you didn't you might end up dressing like Luke."

"I'd rather be wearing flannel than that stupid cotton ball."

"Lorelai," her father warned.

Lorelai looked over to Richard. "Oh come on, Dad. Even you probably think it's ugly."

"Honestly, Lorelai." Emily began angrily. "Have you no such manners? I thought we taught you better than this." With that, she set her drink down on the cart beside her and stalked out of the room. With one last tiring look at Lorelai, Richard did the same.

"And that completes tonight's dinner at the Gilmore's." Lorelai announced, throwing her head against the back of the couch while releasing a loud, frustrated groan.

"It wasn't that bad. I've seen worse." he said, trying to comfort her.

She scoffed. "Like when?"

"Well, when you were seven and I was nine you set the table cloth on fire at Thanksgiving. And then two years ago when I slept over, your parents had friends over and they brought their two year old kid, you accidentally knocked her down the stairs." he said, not even bothering to try and hold in his laughter.

Lorelai's mouth widened. "How dare you bring those up!" she gasped, slapping him on the shoulder roughly. "Not all the dinners were ruined by me, you had you fair share as well."

"You're crazy."

"Am I?" she challenged, smiling knowingly. "Because I'm sure it wasn't me who came running downstairs in only his underwear and a cape while my parents had a business-y meeting going on. And then there was also the time where we were at the Christmas dinner and you dropped the whole bowl of steaming hot gravy on that guys lap three years ago."

"So you agree, this wasn't the worse dinner we've had." he said, ignoring the embarrassing stories.

She narrowed her eyes before reluctantly agreeing with him. "But this has been the worst this year."

Luke nodded. "This year, yes, it has been the worse. But," he playfully wrapped his arm around her shoulder. "There are still many left to go."

They were quiet for a minute, both of them staring at the dress still in its box in front of them. Luke let out a sudden laugh, not even fazing Lorelai. "You're trying to picture me in that dress, aren't you?" she asked knowingly.

"It's a very amusing visual."

* * *

Sorry for such a long wait. I really hadn't intended this to take so long. But hopefully the length satisfied more than it turned them away. I also hadn't intended for it to be this long. Starting a new school year has been tough, too and I've got to keep my grades up to be able to keep writing. This chapter, sadly, is un-beta'd. Sorry for whatever mistakes I made. 

I'm dying to know what you all think is going to happen, especially on the LL romance part. Express your thoughts and opinions, whatever they may be. I love reading them.

Comments? Suggestions? Favorite Parts? Questions?

Reviews are to me as jumping off of things seems to be to the Life and Death Brigade.


	12. Limited

Friends Forever

Lorelai's fourteen and Luke's sixteen

December 1982

* * *

It was a Wednesday afternoon and Luke and Lorelai were sitting across from one another at the Danes' kitchen table, both seemingly engulfed in their homework. Emily had dropped Lorelai off about a half hour before when she had finally given in to Lorelai's pleads of boredom and decided to spend the time shopping. Liz was assumingly out with her friends and William was working at the hardware store, leaving the house to Luke and Lorelai.

They had been sitting in silence for at least the past fifteen minutes and Lorelai was getting restless by the second, hardly able to concentrate on her French homework. "Hey, Luke?"

Luke, still in the process of writing something down, merely grunted in acknowledgment.

"I'm bored."

"Finish your homework, then." he advised distractedly.

She sighed exaggeratedly, dropping her pencil to the table loudly. "It's boring."

"Then you should have taken Spanish."

"Like that'd be any more fun than this."

He rolled his eyes, finally taking his eyes off his paper and looking up at her. "If you had taken Spanish, I could have helped you and it would have been done quicker. Why you'd want to take French is beyond me considering you'll probably never use it once you're out of school."

"Oh, and Spanish will be so useful? Besides, French is a romantic language. It's hot. And once I'm out of college in a few years, and I go to Paris, I'll be able to know what they're saying. I'll be able to order myself a coffee and you won't even know how to read a menu. Then what, Luke? Then what? We'll have to fly all the way to Spain just to get you a coffee? I don't think so. Trust me on this; French is a much, much more useful language to learn."

He chose to ignore her remarks, bringing his pen back to his notebook.

Lorelai frowned, tapping her fingers incessantly on the table while her chin rested in her other hand. She watched Luke as he concentrated on whatever it was he was doing intently. "Luke?"

He sighed audibly, obviously frustrated before looking up at her. "What Lorelai?"

"I want to learn how to cook."

"Well, if I were you, I wouldn't forget a fire extinguisher." he remarked absentmindedly.

"No, I'm serious. I want to learn to cook. You know, like in a kitchen, with a stove and a measuring cup and a knife."

"Why the hell would you want to cook?" Luke asked, his forehead creasing in uncertainty as his mind began to accept what she was actually saying. "You always have people cooking for you; you don't need to know how."

"I won't always have a cook or you in my kitchen, cooking me whatever I want. And besides, it sounds like it could be fun." she said with a small shrug. "It would just be easier if you taught me some basics."

He put down his books on the table and stared at her skeptically. "The most basic thing you can cook is toast and even you can't handle that."

"I was eight!"

"You were ten," Luke corrected immediately. "Just forget about it, Lorelai. You can't cook; you don't belong in or anywhere near a kitchen and never will."

She gasped, glaring at him. "Just for that I'm going to prove it to you. Here, Friday night, I am going to cook you dinner."

"No you're not." he denied immediately. "There's no way I'm allowing you to cook, much less in my kitchen."

"It's not like I'd burn the house down." She ignored his doubtful look. "Besides, you'll just be in the other room if I need your help."

"Just cook at your own house if you want to so badly, it's no different from being here, it's even better."

She rolled her eyes. "Luke, you know my mom wouldn't let me go anywhere near there for cooking purposes-"

"That's what the maid is for, I know." Luke finished. He sighed, "Can't you go over another one of your friend's houses instead? I'm sure Christopher wouldn't mind the company." His tone was teasing and playful, the way in usual was whenever the subject of him came up between the two of them. To Luke, it seemed that more and more lately Lorelai seemed to becoming real friends with Christopher, not only just tolerating him because he was her friend's boyfriend.

And though he'd never told Lorelai, the notion of Christopher and her getting closer seriously seemed to worry him. It wasn't just that he knew eventually Chris would end up getting Lorelai into some type of severe, though inevitable, trouble; it was often small pangs of jealousy he felt whenever she mentioned him. Jealously that he knew Emily approved more of him than she did her own best friends son. Jealousy that it seemed he was beginning to know Lorelai almost as well as he did himself. Jealousy that lately, because of having both school, work and a social life with friends his own age, he hadn't had much time to spend with Lorelai. And it seemed that most of her free time had been spent with him one way or another.

Also, it seemed Christopher brought out some of the insecurities that Luke did his best to hide. Ever since his mother had passed years before, he'd always been struck with the constant fear of abandonment. His mother, one of the two people that he knew should always come back home, wasn't there any longer. And he'd accepted that a while ago. He'd moved on from the fact that she'd never come back. But with his mother gone and his father's continuously long days and nights at work, it seemed like Lorelai was the only one he could seem to depend on to always be there, no matter what. Her parents were rarely around also, so it was sort of like a silent agreement that they'd help raise one another and always have an open shoulder to lean on. They were each other's first priorities.

But for some reason, Luke worried that one day he'd lose Lorelai, just like he had lost his mother. And that it'd be painful and quick, something unexpected and heartbreaking. Not only losing his best friend, but losing someone he considered almost a part of him. Worst of all, he feared he'd somehow end up losing her to Christopher. That one day, she'd have to either choose Chris or himself, and she'd choose him. He didn't know why, the thought itself was completely irrational. Why would she throw away almost fourteen years of serious friendship for someone she'd spent most of her life ridiculing? It was inane, but still, it was constantly there, bugging him and mocking him that he wasn't able to let go of it.

It was one of the main reasons he couldn't let himself think of her as more than just a friend and a confident. Sure, he'd have to be blind to not know that she was almost as beautiful as a good number of women in the magazines he had hidden under his mattress, but he tried his best not to think about that. She was only a friend. And despite the fact that he knew a small part of him wanted more than just that, the more rational part reminded him almost constantly that if they did ever have more, it'd be over before either of them knew it. They were, after all, still young, still teenagers; she hadn't even turned fifteen yet. If they did try for more, it would change things, things that, at the moment, were simple and didn't need changing. And at some point or another, he'd lose her and then, in his mind, she'd end up in Christopher's arms. Which was definitely worse than just keeping things they way they were- just friends.

She nodded at him, a small smile adorning her features. "I could, yes. But do I want to? No."

He repressed a small grin. He let out a long sigh. "Listen-" he reluctantly started to say, obviously ready to cave in.

Lorelai let out a small squeal of success and happily clapped her hands together. "Seriously?"

Luke rolled his eyes. "Not Friday night, though. I'm busy. However on Saturday, my Dad's working until eleven-ish, so that'd probably be better."

"And you'll really let me use the stove all by myself?" she asked, suddenly a bit skeptical.

"Not if you continue to sound so doubtful, no."

"So, what am I gonna cook?"

He shrugged carelessly, "That's up to you."

"Really?" Her eyes widened considerably. "You know, Luke, you're giving me a lot of power here, are you sure you want to do that?"

"I think I'll live."

She paused in thought, wrinkling her nose up and nibbling at her lower lip. "Well, what are some suggestions? You're the cook, you know more than me."

"Mac and cheese is pretty simple. It'd be tough for you to screw that up."

"But that's boring. I want to something where I can flip things in the air and sauté them. Like a pizza."

"You can't sauté a pizza."

"Yeah, I know that, but you can throw them up in the air." She gasped at the sudden insight. "And we can have an entire Italian themed night! With pizza and spaghetti and biscotti. Oh! And both The Godfather's, too!"

"Do you even have the slightest clue as to how to make a pizza that's instructions don't include some type of microwave?"

"Well, you cook right? And all cooks own at least one cookbook."

Luke rolled his eyes. "I thought you were making dinner, not me."

Lorelai stared at him seriously and choked back a laugh. "You weren't honestly going to allow me in the kitchen without any supervision, were you?"

"Right, my mistake. So we'll start this around six? I'll pick up the food, you pick up the movies?"

She smiled back with a short nod. "I'll be here at six-thirty." she confirmed.

* * *

Saturday evening, Luke was sitting on the couch, the TV on, watching one of the college football games that was on while he waited for Lorelai. It was normal for her to be late, and after checking the clock on the table beside him, he noted that it was only six-forty and she has another twenty minutes before he'd begin to worry. A few minutes later the sound of the door opening brought him out of his concentration on the game. "Took you long enough." he commented loud enough for her to hear.

Behind him, he heard the door shut with a slam, a sound he'd been becoming familiar with over the last few weeks and Liz's new 'angry teenage rebellion' phase. Not even a few seconds later did Lorelai appear, a backpack slung lazily over her shoulder and her face nearly pale as her entire body shivered and her teeth chattered audibly. "Why on earth do you not have the heat on?" she exclaimed, furiously rubbing at her frozen arms.

"Jeez, did you walk here?" Luke asked, wide-eyed as he stood up and quickly made his way over to her. He took her backpack off of her shoulder and tossed it over in the corner and led Lorelai back over to the couch and dropped a blanket on her lap while he went off to adjust the heat.

"From the hardware store," she admitted, wrapping the blanket around her shoulders. She reached forward to the coffee table and grabbed Luke's cup of hot chocolate and sipped at it greedily, ignoring the overwhelming sensation that seemed to burn the taste buds right off her tongue.

"The hardware store is five minutes away," Luke pointed out as he came back into the room and sat beside her. He merely glared at her as she chugged down what had been his hot chocolate. "Why didn't you just get dropped off here instead?"

She handed him back the now empty mug. "My dad needed to talk to Will and apparently by the time they were done chatting, my dad was late for a meeting and he said that it would be 'out of his way' to drop me off here and asked me if I'd walk."

"You know my dad could have driven you."

She shrugged and relaxed against the back of the couch. "Well he had just gotten a phone call and it seemed important so my dad wouldn't let me interrupt him."

"And off you were sent." he finished with a nod.

She smiled. "Exactly." She reached forward to grab the remote and flicked through the channels despite Luke's slight protest. "Do you have any socks?" she asked, her bare feet poking out from underneath the blanket.

"Yes, I have socks; don't you have your own to put on? You say you're freezing and then you go and take off your socks."

"I stepped in a puddle," she defended. "So will you get me some?"

"Get them yourself."

"I don't want to get up, I'm cold."

"Well I'm not getting up, either."

She sighed, tucking her feet back underneath her. "So is Liz here? 'Cause I thought I heard your dad saying something about her being home."

"Yeah, I think she is. But she's leaving soon- something about a crisis at one of her friend's house. Right Liz?" he yelled towards the stairs, causing Lorelai to flinch in surprise.

Liz bounded down the stairs, running a hand through her hair as she grabbed her sneakers from behind the couch. "Yeah, yeah, I'm out, bro', don't worry, you and Lorelai will have plenty of alone time."

Lorelai rolled her eyes and turned around to face her. "What happened to you Liz? You used to be such a sweet kid."

"I grew up; got a grip on reality." she explained before turning to Luke, "I'll be home before midnight, don't worry." With that she was out the door, slamming it shut swiftly behind her.

Lorelai raised her eyebrows silently before turning back to Luke. "Well, wasn't that pleasant?"

He shrugged. "Don't take it personally; she's been like that a lot lately."

"Well it must be tough for her; she doesn't exactly have that many women role models. She lives with you and your dad."

"She's got you," he pointed out.

"Yes, she does, but as nice as that may be, it's not like I see her all the time, I mean, even we haven't been seeing each other as much lately." He agreed. ". At most I see her once a month, twice if there's a holiday. You have to admit, it must really suck for her."

He gave a short nod in agreement. "I guess."

"Well," She sighed, dropping the remote beside her. "Nothing's on and I'm hungry, wanna get started in the kitchen?"

Five minutes later the pair was in the kitchen, Lorelai sitting on the countertop as Luke dug through the fridge, occasionally handing Lorelai the ingredients they would need.

"So, how's school been?" he inquired casually.

With a small sigh, she shrugged. "Fine, I guess. Classes this year seem really boring. Most of its still review and we're already almost halfway through the year."

"Well don't worry, it'll get harder."

"It's not that I want them to get harder, it's just that I'm stuck there for about seven hours a day, the least they could do was challenge us a little."

"You know, a lot of people would love to be in your position."

"I know. Does that make me weird?" she wondered.

"Nah," He shook his head, shutting the fridge with the bag of shredded cheese in hand. "Just special."

"Like Kirk?" she joked.

"No, I mean, you're different." He shrugged, clearly not understanding her joke. "You're not weird or anything like Kirk is, just determined. You like to be challenged. You can do anything that you put your mind to and you always handle whatever it is life throws at you without giving up. You're like Wonder Woman or something."

A slightly embarrassed smile spread involuntary across her face. "You know Luke; I think you're getting softer as you age."

"What?" he asked, confused.

She shook her head, still smiling. "Nothing. Now teach me how to cook because I don't know what I'm doing here."

While he set the degrees to preheat the oven, Luke explained that they'd mix the ingredients he had laid out and then let it sit for about six to eight minutes then add some more things, knead the dough, and then cover it with flour and knead it some more. She wasn't exactly sure if she had caught all the points considering most of it just went in one ear and out the other.

When he was done he turned to Lorelai. "You got it?"

She smiled a false, albeit encouraging smile. "Let's make us some pies."

After having mixed the ingredients, Luke had split the dough in half so each of them could make their own pizza and they each were kneading their own half.

"So where'd you get this recipe?" Lorelai asked Luke, looking over at him.

Beside her, Luke shrugged, somewhat unemotionally. "It was my mom's."

"Oh." That seemed to put a stop to the conversation. Lorelai nudged him, hoping to lighten the mood. "Hey, can I throw the pizza up in the air like they do in all those movies? I promise I'll catch it." she added with a hopeful smile as she turned to look at his skeptical face.

"No."

"What?" she gasped. "But you even just said that I could do anything; anything implies everything and everything implies tossing a pizza up in the air." she countered with a huff.

Luke raised his eyebrows at her doubtfully and went back kneading his half of the dough. "Even anything has its limits."

Lorelai glowered at him for a moment before sighing audibly and turning back to the counter. "You know-" she began just as the phone rang and cut her off.

She frowned as Luke left the room, telling her he'd be back in a minute. Soon enough he was back, the phone in his hand and the cord attached to it stretching as far as it could go. He covered the bottom half of the phone of his palm and called for Lorelai's attention. "Hey, Marc is on the phone and I gotta talk to him, something about a paper I have upstairs, okay?"

"That's fine," she promised. "And I swear I won't go near the oven."

"Good, and no fancy tricks, got it?" he asked sternly.

With a mock-salute, she smiled cheekily. "Yes, sir!"

Luke left the room, his footsteps echoing as he made his way upstairs and into his bedroom. After Lorelai was sure he was out of sight, she paused the movie, for Luke's benefit and her own, and turned up the radio. Once she heard the familiar tune of one of U2's newer songs, she turned the volume up, making sure it wouldn't be loud enough to cause Luke to come downstairs and catch her in the midst of what she was doing.

She smiled to herself as she picked up her freshly stretch out, circular dough and continued to pull it apart just as Luke had taught her how to the rhythm of the song. With a mischievous smile to herself, she lightly tossed said dough up in the air lightly, catching it with both hands when it came down not a second later.

Even anything has limits, my ass. She had just tossed a pizza up in the air and caught it. Both culinary and athletic skills she didn't even know she had being shown in one simple toss. Maybe she should have signed up for the softball team or some other sport where they caught things in the air, she mused, testing out her amazing pizza toss for a second time. And a third, and a fourth.

Eventually she seemed to have caught the hang of things and hardly worried about precautions, only tossing it in the air every now and then to whatever song played. Soon enough she was caught up in the song and ended up accidentally throwing it up higher than planned, and was evidently shocked when it didn't come back down.

She gaped as she looked back up, staring as the dough seemed to cling to the ceiling. Her heart nearly stopped at the sight. "Shit," she cursed quietly, helplessly as a small blob fell down onto the table with a splat. The noise appeared to have awakened her and she immediately jumped up on the table, knocking over the bowl of flour in the process, spilling its contents all over her feet and the table itself.

The floor upstairs began to creak slightly, an obvious warning that Luke would be downstairs any minute. From her spot on the table, Lorelai quickly glanced around the room for a rag of any sort that would wipe the flour off the table but when she came up empty and the steps grew louder, she simply took off her shirt and dropped it on the table, using it to wipe off the flour with her feet while her hands worked quickly with all the dough stuck to the ceiling.

"Hey Lorelai?" Luke's voice carried down the stairs and into the kitchen, his footsteps following, freezing Lorelai right the spot, her arms weakly being held above her head.

"Yeah?" she called back feebly, barely able to manage getting the words past her throat. She could picture it, too. Him coming back downstairs, seeing her standing on the kitchen table with her bare feet covered in flour, her shirt off, pizza dough which covered a good part of the ceiling, and her lovely, not as filled as she wished it were, hot pink bra that read 'hot stuff' on it. He was definitely in for a sight.

She could almost taste the awkwardness that would ensue shortly after.

"Marc needs some help with his paper so it might be a little longer; fifteen minutes tops. You can try and go ahead with anything that you think you can do, you know, the sauce, cheese and other toppings, just avoid the oven at all costs, got it?"

She breathed a deep sigh of relief, feeling each and every tensed muscle in her body relax immediately. "Yeah, take your time, I'm fine down here." Lorelai replied with as much conviction as she could muster.

Once she was sure she had heard the door click shut, she hopped off the table and picked her shirt up and dusted it off as best she could and put it back on, just in case those fifteen minutes ended without a warning. That most definitely had not been her brightest idea, she though sarcastically as she grabbed one of Luke's old Minutemen t-shirts out of the dirty laundry pile in the laundry room just down the hall.

She hobbled her way back to the kitchen as fast as she could, nearly tripping over her own feet as she vigorously wiped the flour off them with the shirt. She sighed as she walked back into the kitchen, glancing at the ridiculous mess in front of her. Maybe Luke had been right, she groused inwardly. Maybe anything does have its limits.

With a sigh, she hopped back up on the table, this time choosing to pick off as much dough as she could with her fingers as she wiped the table beneath her with Luke's shirt using her feet.

"So, Lorelai how was Luke's house?" she asked herself quietly, imitating an Emily-like tone as her fingers gnawed at the gravelly ceiling. "Oh, it was fine mom. For a while I thought that I was destined to study culinary arts and make pizzas for a living and then soon after my best friend almost caught me half-naked on his kitchen table."

Once she was sure she had gotten the most visible dough off the ceiling, she was sure ten minutes had already passed. She scrambled off the table, the pile of dough collected from the ceiling in her hand and she dropped it on the table, using it to pick up the remaining flour the shirt hadn't dusted off.

Quickly, she threw the used t-shirt back into the laundry room and grabbed all the necessities at the counter, bringing them over to the kitchen table instead.

Immediately she threw herself into one of the chairs, determined to make it look like she had made even the slightest bit of progress, smoothed her hair down and tucked it behind her ears and quickly flattened the dough as best she could. Right as she began to hear Luke's descending footsteps, she dumped the bowl of toppings onto the heavily sauced pizza and after quickly, albeit carefully, rearranging them, Luke made his appearance known at the doorframe.

"Hey," Luke began apologetically as he stepped back into the kitchen. "Sorry that took longer than I expected. Hope I didn't offset your pizza making mood."

Lorelai looked up from where she was sitting; leaning over the pizza as she casually decorated it with whatever had been set out on the table. "Oh, no that's fine." she dismissed, waving her hand as he took a seat across from her. "It gave me a chance to decorate my masterpiece." she beamed, turning her plate to face him.

"It's…wonderful." Luke stated in an almost questionable tone. He stared at her pizza, which seemed to have shrunk a bit, and the toppings that looked like they had been thrown on by a two year old.

"Isn't it?" Lorelai asked, standing up and walking over to the counter beside the over. "Hurry up with yours, it's getting late and I still want to watch at least one of the movies."

He nodded slowly, staring at her carefully as she went to leave the room. "Lorelai?" he called out to her retreating back. She turned around, looking at him expectantly. "Is your shirt on inside out?"

Briefly her eyes widened. Then, she shrugged carelessly, glancing down at her shirt. "Oh," she waved off innocently. "It's been like that all night, I'm surprised it took you this long to notice." she lied, absentmindedly tugging at the hem of her shirt. "Now hurry and finish up, I'm hungry."

* * *

From her end of the couch, she looked over at him, slumped against the backend of the couch with one arm splayed across the top, the other tucked just under his chin, and chose to focus on him instead of the movie, smiling at the simplicity of it all.

Just earlier, a couple hours prior, he had been telling her, encouraging her to do whatever she wanted. To be whoever she wanted. He believed in her, something that she rarely heard from anyone, and it was nice. She had felt important, like for once she had the ability to do whatever she could dream of.

It was different around Richard and Emily; they only ever wanted her to do well to keep up an image in society. They didn't seem to care if she was at all happy, as long as she excelled at school and didn't do any harm to the Gilmore name, nothing else mattered to them.

With Luke, he supported her, no matter what it was she was doing, he always told it like it was but never made her feel unworthy or insignificant. He made her feel like she could be or do anything, even though after performance in the kitchen earlier that evening it was obvious that wasn't true.

Yes, so maybe anything was limited. Maybe she'd never cook another day in her life, and maybe she'd spend the rest of her high school career failing Phys. Ed. Maybe she would and maybe, in the slightest chance, she wouldn't. Either way, it didn't seem to matter, either way it'd come out the same; her still wanting something so simple that it made anything seem limitless.

Just someone that would have faith in her, believe in her, no matter what. Who wouldn't doubt her abilities and wouldn't judge her by her family and finances. Someone who'd love her for her unconditionally, and wouldn't love her less just because she made a mistake. Someone to hold her while she cried and cheer her up when she was down. Someone she could trust her life with, and would trust her equally. Someone that made her feel important and needed; someone that made her feel like anything was limitless.

Maybe some would call that simple, maybe others wouldn't. But either way it was what she wanted- what she had.

People would call her immature and innocent if she were to admit that she was positive who she wanted to spend the rest of her life with. After all, she was only fourteen, what did she know? What love had she ever experienced? Hell, other than two kisses at the park when she was seven, she'd only been kissed once, and even then it hadn't been real. It had just been a game of spin-the-bottle amongst a few of her friends.

But still, call her naïve and innocent and immature, she was positive that she knew.

It wasn't like she had thought about it everyday and it was always something that was on her mind. To her, it was just a fact- like there were twelve months in a year or sixty seconds in an hour. Never a variable, always a constant. Something she didn't have to think about to know. Something that she just knew. Something that she had always known.

She had known when she was four and his mother would always say that they'd end up married and in love. The perfect family.

She had known when she was five and had played house with him and had enjoyed nothing more than to pretend to be his wife.

She had known when she was six and had offered to share his bed with him on account of the fact that she was afraid of thunderstorms.

She had known when she was seven and he had almost beat up a kid for telling her she wasn't that pretty.

She had known when she was nine and he had willingly skipped one of his little league championship games just to see her in her school play.

She had known when she was twelve and he had lied to her mother that the fact that her antique, thousand year old vase was broken because of him, even though it had really been her fault.

And she knew it know, as the two of them sat together on the couch, watching 'The Godfather' and eating the most disgusting pizza she'd ever tasted with her legs tucked underneath her.

Silently, she unfolded her legs and stretched them across his lap, her toes just barely brushing against the arm of the couch. She smiled to herself as he remained to be unfazed and only settled his hands on top of her calves, unconsciously rubbing at them gently.

It was little things like that that made her know, that never made her have to second guess herself. Simple things that made her feel safe and loved and free to be herself without having to hold back, even if she chose to do so. And if she did choose to hold things back, she always had a reason.

"Hey Luke?" she whispered, sinking down on the couch to rest her head against the pillow behind her.

He grunted something in acknowledgment and she realized he was asleep.

"You know," she began quietly, fixing the blankets covering her legs so that they also covered him. "I think you were wrong." She took the hat off his head and turned the dim light off behind her then settled back with her legs across his lap and eyes shut, the movie playing quietly in the background. "Anything is limitless."

* * *

Oh my God, I am so, so, so sorry it's taken forever. I honestly hadn't thought it would take this long. But my computer ended up breaking (literally snapping in half) with **all** my Gilmore files saved to it, including this chapter which, at the time, was somewhat finished. So I had to wait. Never again will it take this long, I promise. Just know that there is no way for me to abandon this story. I've got way too many ideas for this to give up on a whim. It will be finished.

And for all of you who still have no clue how Luke and Lorelai will get together, well, this chapter contains quite a few anvils. Kudos to whoever can guess them.

A virtual cookie will go to whoever can guess how many pages I've written so far in size 12 Arial font.

And a super thanks to my amazing beta** Java**. It's great to have your opinion. I'd also like to thank everyone that reviewed the last chapter. It was nice to hear what you thought would happen. However, I'm not giving anything away. Your responses are so overwhelming. The record amount of reviews is 31, which happens to be chapter 5. Maybe one day we'll beat that? (That's my subtle hint for everyone to review.)

This is a shout out to **JavaJunkieLL4Ever**, because she always leaves me reviews that make my heart swell. Keep them up!

Comments? Suggestions? Favorite Parts? Questions?

Reviews are to me as pot was to a teenage Liz.


	13. Circles

This chapter is dedicated to **DiehardJavaJunkie14**, because if it hadn't been her birthday yesterday, this chapter wouldn't have been finished.

Friends Forever

Lorelai's fourteen and Luke's sixteen

March 1983

* * *

The New Year had begun and suddenly it was spring, but the New England coldness stuck around, including the snow. But not the good, wintry kind that Lorelai loved, but the sleety, slushy kind that seemed to be endless. January and February had passed by quickly, and now it was March, the longest, dreariest month of the year. No holidays and it was already well into the year, meaning the teachers were piling more work on than ever. Worst of all was the way everyone was acting; depressing, gloomy, sluggish, it was as if life itself had become monotonous. Everything and everyone was the same.

As Lorelai laid with her feet dangling over the top of the antique couch in the living room, one her mother had specified was not for lounging around on, she contemplated whether or not if at least one, non-dull event happened, it would end the tedious lifestyle she had ended up with in the past few weeks.

Everything seemed to have gone downhill after the pizza night with Luke in the early part of last December. Her parents had ended up spending the holidays in Europe, and though she was glad she was allowed a choice as to whether or not she would go or stay home without them, and she chose the latter, she still hated the lonely feeling it had brought about. With Luke having to visit his aunt and cousin in Rhode Island, she had ended up more alone than she had thought she would. Apparently his aunt frowned upon bringing along people who weren't related to you, no matter how close you were to them. And once he finally got home, hardly any other part of her vacation hadn't even been spent with Luke, who she usually spent all the holidays with. She assumed it was because they were getting older and were creating lives of their own, ones that always didn't involve each other. She didn't like it that much.

New Years Eve, which traditionally was spent with Luke at the party her parents threw, had instead been spent in Rick Taylor's bathroom, holding back Alyson's hair as she emptied her stomach into the toilet. Alyson and Chris had supposedly been dating on and off during the last month because they "needed to experience new people; they had, after all, been dating almost a year." But when Lorelai walked in on Chris playing some intense tonsil hockey with a girl from some other town, she had told Alyson immediately, who apparently was repulsed at the thought of her soon to be ex-boyfriend dating someone else, proceeded to drink herself into a deeply intoxicated state, which resulted in the two of them not leaving Rick's house until the following morning.

And with the two months following, her visits with Luke were few and far between due to the fact Luke had recently gotten a job working part-time at his father's hardware store, giving him hardly any free time of his own and her dealing with her friend's, now annoying, supposed depression. She was beginning to think that Alyson was bipolar. One minute she was weeping over the loss of her "soul mate," the next was being spent flirting with whatever guy looked her way. And then there was just two weeks ago; Valentines Day. Lorelai had sworn to herself that she wouldn't let herself get caught up in all the love, but somehow, she had. And then she ended up making out behind the bleachers during gym with Mike Davis, who she willingly admitted to anyone that asked that he was the hottest man in the school. But after their short night spent at the movies and a quick goodnight kiss, he had never called her back and she had given up on him. He was just another thing to be added to her list of things gone wrong.

As she felt the blood rushing to her head quicken, she sighed and sat up. As she bent over to pick her history book up off the floor, she came to the decision that the dizziness she had felt just a few seconds prior had been the highlight of her day. That only seemed to make her more depressed.

She flipped open her history book to page 163, something about the Russian Revolution, and skimmed the pages quickly. History, no matter how simple the subject was, was her least favorite subject so far that year due to the lack of interest that it brought. By the time she had reached page 168, the doorbell suddenly began to ring impatiently. She sighed, shutting her book. "Is anyone gonna get that?" she called out loudly, even if she knew the new maid would get lost finding her way to the front door and that she was the only other person home. Tossing her book back on the floor carelessly, she muttered a quick and sarcastic, "I guess I've got it," and made her way to the door.

As the ringing ensued, her pace quickened and her mumbles grew louder. "I'm coming, just hold on! Jeez," With an unpleasant smile, she opened the door, only to have her face brighten at the sign of Luke standing on the other side of the door. "Hey, what are you doing here?" she asked, opening the door wider to allow him to come in. "Its one o'clock, shouldn't you be working?"

He shrugged, a small grin tugging at his lips as he walked in, pausing in the middle of the foyer. "I work later on Saturdays," he answered casually, "I was actually just out for a drive."

"A drive?" She sounded surprised, intrigued. "With who?"

"Drove myself." he answered simply.

"You drove here," she repeated, her smile widening considerably. He nodded. "By yourself?"

"Yeah,"

"How?"

He shrugged. "Got a car."

Her eyes widened, the disbelief evident across her face. "You got a car!"

"I got a truck," he corrected, grinning widely at her.

"And it drives?"

"Yup."

"And it has wheels?

He smirked. "Four of them."

"And all this is legal?"

"Well, no."

She deflated instantly. "You didn't steal it, did you?"

"No it's nothing like that; just that because I only have my permit, I can only drive with an adult."

"And you drove here alone." she finished with a grin. "You've only been on the road for, what, four months and you're already breaking the law?"

"It's not like it's anything that bad, I mean, if you think that I shouldn't be driving, I could just leave you here and go out with my other friends."

She gasped, a smile clear through her feigned offense, "Don't you dare!" she exclaimed.

"Good, go tell your parents you're spending the night at my place."

"Should I change?" she asked, glancing down at her sweatpants and Stars Hollow Baseball t-shirt uncertainly.

He nodded, "But make it quick. I don't want to be down here for an hour."

"Well, where are we going?"

"I've got an hour before I gotta get back to my dad's store, but then later there's a party at Nick's house so I thought we'd go there."

"How long are you going to have to work?" she asked with a frown. She had hoped that she'd get to spend some time with Luke before he had to leave her to venture out on the town alone.

"From three to seven, or somewhere around there. But that will give us about an hour and a half, and I figured while I was at work you'd probably want to spend some time with Sookie and whoever else it is that you're friends with in town."

She nodded, "Good assumption."

"But I'm not taking her with us to the party."

"Why?" She deflated. "I thought you liked Sookie."

"Because I'm already bringing one freshman along, but luckily with you, not that many people will realize that you're only in the ninth grade-"

"Because of my dazzling and mature looks?"

"Because the amount of make-up you put on makes you seem eighty and blind."

She scoffed.

"Seriously though, I'm not going to look like an idiot who's only friends with fourteen year olds."

"Hey, I'm almost fifteen, which is almost sixteen, which is how old you are."

"And when you're sixteen, I'll be eighteen and I still won't be letting your friends tag along with us. Now go get changed, I'm gonna go grab something from the fridge for the ride, want anything?"

"Soda will be fine," she called back to him, already making her way upstairs and into her room.

* * *

Luke and Lorelai spent their hour and a half together out driving on the old roads in the area where they were sure there were no police out and it would be fine to excess the speed limit, just because they couldn't think of a better way to spend a Saturday afternoon. They laughed and kidded around with each other while Luke nearly scared Lorelai to death about ten times when he "accidentally" hit the gas instead of the brakes, or when he "accidentally" swerved into the left lane when there was the occasional car passing them. They listened to the radio, Lorelai's choice of course, and she sang as loud as she could while Luke suffered beside her. He told her some crazy stories about the happenings in the Hollow, something about damned church bells ringing all the time, while she told him some amusing anecdotes of the Hartford society life. Overall, they had a great time.

When they got back to Stars Hollow, Luke set off to work and Lorelai wandered around town, smiling and waving to all the townsfolk that greeted her and claimed how long it had been since they had seen her last, until she finally made it to her destination at Sookie's house.

She and Sookie, who was ecstatic to see her, gladly caught up with each other, sharing news and gossip faster than the news on page six got around. "So he didn't even care that he was still in a relationship with Alyson?" Sookie asked incredulously. The two of them were perched on her bed, occasionally flipping through the various teen magazines scattered across the room.

Lorelai shrugged. "I guess not."

"Guys can be so cruel."

"Well, he had a right to, I guess. They were in an open relationship; they said that they could date other people."

"Are you seriously siding with Chris on this?"

Lorelai rolled her eyes. "We're not six anymore, Sook, I'm not repulsed by the simple thought of him. I'm just being logical."

"Because that's something you do so much."

"I'm a logical person," Lorelai defended. "Besides, I've known him longer; doesn't that give me the right to side with him?"

"But you're better friends with Alyson." Sookie pointed out. "If she hadn't dated Chris, you would probably still hate him." Lorelai sighed loudly, rolling her eyes. Just as she was about to retort, Sookie let out a loud squeal that resulted in Lorelai nearly falling off the bed in surprise.

"What?" Lorelai asked, scrambling back up on the bed in curiosity.

"You like him." Sookie stated knowingly with a catlike smile.

Playing dumb, Lorelai asked, "Like who?"

"You like Christopher."

"What?" she scoffed, her eyes widening as her face shone in disbelief. "I do not."

"Yes you do, it's obvious."

"It's not obvious because I don't like him, he's just a friend." Lorelai reminded her sternly.

Sympathetically, Sookie looked at Lorelai. "You know, it's okay to like someone other than Luke."

"I know its okay to like someone other than Luke. I was just saying earlier that I had a date with Mike last month."

"And that's good," Sookie encouraged, "But I mean with someone that will actually call you back." Lorelai frowned. "And I mean that in a good way. For now you should just try and put yourself out there and meet new people."

"God, you make me sound like some obsessed, crazy ex-girlfriend that can't get over the fact that her boyfriend no longer wants her."

Sookie shrugged uncomfortably, "That's one way to put it."

"But how can I be a crazy, obsessed ex-girlfriend if we haven't even gone out in the first place?"

"Are we speaking hypothetically? 'Cause I'm a little-"

"All I'm saying," Lorelai cut her off, "Is that with Luke, sure I like him, I've liked him for awhile, I've always liked him, and I probably even love him, even if it's only as a friend, but that doesn't mean that I won't let myself like other people. If I find myself liking someone new, like with Mike for example, than I'll like Mike and my feelings for Luke will still be there, but that's only because it's practically impossible to get rid of them. They'd just be put on, like, the back burner or something and I'd ignore them while I went out with the other guy."

Sookie nodded in confirmation, "So… this means you like Chris, huh?"

With a small smile, Lorelai looked down at her fidgeting hands in her lap, her face turning a bright and obvious shade of pink. She looked up at her friend with a small, shy smile. That was one way to put it.

* * *

Around eight that night, Luke and Lorelai were standing out on Nick's front porch as the loud music blared through the windows, just barely downing out their conversation. "Okay, so tonight you are at a high school party, got that?" Luke checked for what seemed like the fifteenth time that night. He had been nagging for her to behave ever since she had met him back at his house for a quick dinner and it was really beginning to get on her nerves.

Lorelai rolled her eyes, "I know, Luke, we've been over this ten times." He reached his hand for the doorknob, then paused, pulled back and sighed. "God, Luke!" Lorelai all but shouted in exasperation. "This is going to take all night."

He tiredly ran his hand across his forehead before looking up at her almost pleadingly. "Just do not make me regret being your friend at all tonight, okay?"

"You're so dramatic, Luke. Have you forgotten that I'm in high school, too?"

He waved her off. "Well, you're a freshman."

"That doesn't mean I don't know how to behave at a party. I was, after all, raised by Emily Gilmore."

"Yeah for cotillion and stuff like that."

"We'll so were you," she shot back defensively, opening the door and walking into the house before he could say another word.

He reluctantly followed her inside, only pulling her aside once to remind her to meet up with him at the front door around eleven if they didn't meet up again throughout the rest of the night, to which Lorelai agreed before the two of them separated.

Lorelai watched as Luke walked in the opposite direction of her and met up with his friends and felt suddenly completely out of place. What on earth was she thinking when she decided to go to a high school party with Luke with kids she hardly knew, and only knew her as Butch's hot and annoying little friend.

She sighed and wandered aimlessly until she found the kitchen, where she remained for what seemed like the next hour, but was only fifteen minutes. She was contemplating whether or not she should go and ask Luke if she could just go spend the night at Sookie's when a very attractive, slightly older than her, brown-haired boy walked in, smiling and nodding a hello to her.

She smiled back, politely of course, before shyly looking down at her shoes and the tiled floor. At the moment, with her reddened cheeks, the tiles were very interesting.

"Want one?" the boy asked.

Lorelai, having no clue what he was talking about, looked up and stared at him in confusion, feeling like a complete idiot. "One?"

"A drink?" he asked, holding up his own cup.

"Oh, um, sure. A drink would be nice." She smiled at him politely as he grabbed a cup from the counter and skillfully tossed it in the air, catching it with his other hand and lowering it under the tap of the keg. Lorelai's impressed smile faltered slightly as she realized that the beer he was handing her was for her to drink. "Thanks," she said with a tight smile. She looked down and into the cup at the liquid that looked faintly akin to the ginger ale she would drink when she was younger and sick. Only now it was alcohol, something new, something she knew that she shouldn't be drinking, something she never had drank before, but with him smiling at her like that, she couldn't help but consider it.

"You're welcome…?"

"Lorelai," she finished with a smile, bravely taking her first sip of alcohol and nearly choking on the bitter, stinging taste as it drifted down her throat.

"Are you okay?" he asked amusedly, stifling a small laugh.

"Oh, yeah, just, you know," she swallowed thickly. "Wrong pipe."

He nodded, still a bit skeptic. "Well, it was nice to meet you, Lorelai."

"You, too." She smiled politely, her eyes following him until he turned the corner into the other room. Well, that certainly brightened up her evening. She looked down into the cup before taking another sip, this time more hesitant and cautious than the last. The taste was still bitter and not at all delightful in her case, but for some reason, one she didn't know, it felt a little good. Maybe it was because, no matter how stupid and pathetic the reason may be, it made her feel attractive somehow. Different. Not the Lorelai everyone else knew her as in her school back in Hartford. There she would never be caught drinking. But in Stars Hollow, with kids that didn't know her that well, she could fit in just as easily as everyone else.

By the time she was done thinking about her pitiable life, her cup was surprisingly done and the stinging had either ceased or she had just grown accustomed to the feeling and forgot what it felt for her throat to not be stinging. She wasn't exactly sure. She went over to the keg, and just as she was done filling up her second cup two thirds of the way, she felt a tap on her shoulder. "I'm going; I'm going, just hold on."

However, the person behind her made it clear he didn't want to 'hold on.' He grabbed her by the arm and dragged her to the secluded corner of the kitchen, turning her around to face his furious face. "What the hell do you think you're doing?" Luke asked lividly, though his tone remained hushed so no one could overhear them by chance.

Lorelai blinked, still recovering from the shocked feeling. She shrugged, tugging his hand off her arm. "Nothing."

"Were you seriously-" he stopped at a loss for words and only stared at her in confusion. "Why on earth were you drinking? You're fourteen for God's sake!"

"And it was just one drink. I'm not going to drink myself into oblivion and have you carry me home. I'm fine, I'm still standing."

"And now you're being cut. No more, you can drink when you're out with your other friends, but not while you're still my responsibility."

She rolled her eyes as Luke calmly escorted her back over to the keg where he proceeded to fill up two plastic cups of his own. "Hypocrite," she mumbled, staring down into her half empty cup that he had surprisingly never taken away from her.

"So, uh, Luke?" Lorelai asked, her right hand tugging nervously at the hem of her shirt.

"Yeah?" he replied distractedly, trying not to spill any of the beer out of the cups as he poured them.

"Do you know who that guy is? Over there?" she asked, pointing him out apprehensively.

"Jared?"

"I don't know, is that who he is?"

"If you're talking about the kid with the red shirt, then yes, that's Jared."

"Oh, and, well, what do you know about this, um, Jared?" she stuttered.

Luke shrugged, seemingly oblivious to Lorelai's intentions, "Last name's Walsh, he's a sophomore, plays soccer sometimes, why he would play such a stupid sport is beyond me. No one even plays soccer; all you do is run back and forth across the field and kick a ball. It shouldn't even be considered as a sport."

"You know, Butch, not everyone thinks that running around in circles wearing shorts and a tank top is a sport either. Actually, I'm pretty sure the majority of the people here would agree that it isn't."

"Shut up," he grumbled.

"So, uh, is there anything else about Jared?" she asked abruptly.

Luke shrugged, "Not really."

"Well, what about his status?" she asked lightly, casually crossing her arms and leaning against the countertop, making sure she had a good view of the boy in question.

"Status?" Luke repeated. Lorelai nodded, trying to appear not as eager as she felt. "I don't know, he's okay, I guess. I mean, he probably wouldn't fit in with people that well at your school, yeah, he's cool."

"Oh, well, that's great and all but," she paused, doing her best to control the blush that was rising in her cheeks. This was definitely not something she was used to talking to Luke with, especially at a party. "I sorta meant, you know, whether or not he was dating someone."

"Dating someone? Why would you-" he stopped suddenly. "No. No way are you dating him."

"Are you serious?" she asked innocently, "I said absolutely nothing about dating him. I was just curious."

He continued to doubtfully stare at her until he conceded under her firm stare. "Well, it's not like you'd be able to date him anyway." he said, taking her plastic cup from her unwillingly and dumping it down the sink.

"Oh," she frowned. "Why?"

"Nearly every girl in the ninth and tenth grade is in love with the kid."

"Butch got some competition?" she asked sympathetically.

"And on that note, I'm leaving. You better not be drunk the next time I see you, either." he warned before grabbing the two cups off the counter, leaving Lorelai alone for the second time that night.

She sighed, looking almost longingly down the sink. She pushed herself away from the countertop, deciding to chance it and go hang out in the living room with everyone else. Besides, the beer wasn't that good, either.

The rest of the night went on smoothly. Lorelai ended up talking and flirting with a few of the guys, dancing with two, and met the few other freshman girls from the town that had come she had never even noticed before. The only awkward moment was catching Luke making out with a girl she assumed to be his girlfriend. She hadn't paid attention to the name when Luke had stuttered an introduction between the two women, who politely smiled at each other, though it was obviously forced. Apparently they had been going out for two weeks, so she didn't have that much of a good reason to yell at Luke at the end of the night. But overall, it was a good night. It was strange, Lorelai thought as she and Luke met up at the front door around eleven, that even though she'd practically lived in Stars Hollow her entire life and considered it a second home, she hardly knew anyone her own age.

"So where's your girlfriend?" Lorelai asked as they stepped out in the chilly air.

Luke shrugged uncomfortably. "She had to be home at ten-thirty; curfew."

She nodded. "Well, I had a good time tonight."

Luke looked over at her strangely. "Good."

"Yeah, I mean, you should definitely bring me along more often when there's a party."

"I'll remember that."

"Good."

Luke looked over at Lorelai, staring at her as if her were studying her face for some sort of final exam before turning back, shaking his head in disappointment. "I still can't believe you were drinking." he grumbled angrily.

She rolled her eyes. "I only had a total of one cup. One of those stupid plastic cups that hardly contained anything. It's not like you have to hold my hair back while I throw up in the bushes or something, it was nothing."

"You're fourteen!" he exclaimed. "You shouldn't be drinking when you're only fourteen. I didn't even have my first drink till two months ago."

"There's hardly a difference. And like I said, it was once and it wasn't even that great. I doubt I'll even have another one in the next six months."

Luke sighed loudly beside her, making it clear he didn't agree with her at all. "You better not in any way act drunk in front of my father," he warned as they approached the house. "I mean it."

"I won't." He shot her a look. She rolled her eyes, "I promise."

* * *

Lorelai liked this time of night, when she was asleep. She hardly had to worry and was usually content. It was always a plus when she was able to spend the night at the Danes home, especially when she got to sleep in the guestroom, more affectionately known as her own. Her bedroom always felt warm there, and not just in the sense of temperature. It felt like it would at a real home, and it didn't matter if the bedspread matched the color of the walls.

But that specific night, Lorelai would have preferred to be sleeping in a tent on the ground in Alaska surrounded by man eating polar bears if there were such a thing, than in the guest room. It was two fifty-five a.m. and she had yet to fall asleep. She knew she shouldn't even bother trying anyways. It was those damn bells. Luke had warned her about them, but she had waved it off time and time again. Now she was beginning to understand what he had meant when he repeatedly checked if she wanted to spend the night at his house or not.

Every hour on the hour the bells would ring, and she wasn't surprised when she heard the screaming and exceptionally loud groans from outside the house. She was tired, extremely annoyed, still slightly buzzed from the alcohol earlier and desperately wanted to go home.

Never did she think she'd ever admit that.

She sighed, checked the clock. Two fifty-eight. Two more minutes and then she could hopefully try to get at least fifteen minutes of sleep. From her position lying down on the bed, she shifted up, pulling her knees to her chest and resting her crossed arms on them, the frown on her face showing off her obvious irritation. Finally, when the clock struck three and the clamoring and the clangoring began, she flinched with every ring until finally fed up, she marched into Luke's room and over to his bed. "Luke, Luke, get up."

He sat up hurriedly, leaning back on his hands. "What?" he groaned, rubbing his hand across his face.

She gasped. "You're asleep?" she asked incredulously. "Seriously?"

He rolled his eyes, sitting up straighter. "Obviously I'm not anymore. What do you want?" he asked, looking over to check his clock. "It's three o'clock in the morning."

"How can you possibly sleep through that?"

"Through what?"

"The bells, Luke! The freakin' obnoxious bells that won't shut up! Every hour on the hour those stupid bells go off like clockwork. It's impossible to sleep!"

Luke, ignoring her completely, managed to lay back and roll onto his stomach, burying his face in his pillow, already close to sleep for the second time that night. "Obviously it's not that hard," he muttered. "Now, leave."

"I will!" she stated triumphantly, stomping her foot for emphasis. Suddenly she deflated; a pout clear on her face.

He waited a few seconds before asking, "Why are you still here?"

Speaking quickly, she explained, "I kinda need a ride home."

He yawned, "Guess you're stuck here, then."

She mock-sighed. "I know, that's just what I was thinking."

"Hmm."

"But then I remembered that you have a car."

"Truck," he corrected sleepily.

She shrugged, sitting herself down on the edge of his bed. "Truck, car, potato, potahto."

"Right now, you could be asleep, you know." he reminded her.

"Or right now you could be getting dressed to take me back home."

"Just call your parents if you want to leave so bad."

"It's three o'clock in the morning, Luke. I don't think they'd appreciate me calling them and waking them up at three in the morning."

"So instead you choose to wake me up." he deduced dryly.

"You inflict less pain when woken up."

"The more time you spend talking the less time you have trying to go back to sleep."

"Please," she scoffed. "By the time I walk all the way back down the hall and into my room and back under the covers it'll already be quarter past, and then I have to factor in the time spent trying to fall back to sleep, which, after seeing my energy level now, means another ten minutes at the least, and then I'll have hardly a half hours sleep and at four the bells will ring, waking me up again and the process will begin all over again." She sighed dramatically. "Are you even listening to me?"

"Sleep, Lorelai, it's what most normal people do at this time of the night." She shook her head, her eyes narrowed and tugged on his arm until he looked up at her unhappily. "What now?"

She cocked her head to the side, frowning mockingly, "What ever happened to you, Luke? You used to be adventurous, bold, daring, willing to break any rule at any time of the day."

"Lorelai?"

"Yeah?"

"Sleep."

"I guess it's true when they say you get soft as you age."

He sat up suddenly, causing her to jump back slightly in surprise. "That's it."

"That's what?"

"You want adventurous?" he challenged, glaring menacingly.

Her face lit up. "You're gonna take me home?"

He shook his head. "Just get dressed, or better yet, just throw on a coat and meet me downstairs by the door."

"Make it the kitchen and make me some coffee and it's a deal."

"We don't have to do this, you know." he reminded her as he began to get out of bed, clad in only his boxers and a t-shirt.

"Fine," she relented, willing herself not to make it obvious she was staring at his chest, "I'll make my own coffee."

"Make it quick," he called after her quietly as she got up and left the room.

Not ten minutes later Luke met up with Lorelai in the kitchen, his jeans and jacket on and his father's toolbox in his hand. "You almost done with that?" he asked, watching as Lorelai eyed the toolbox suspiciously.

"Why are you holding that?"

"Because we're gonna need it. Now hurry up." he ordered, quietly putting the toolbox down and pushing her out of the way, finishing up making her coffee and pouring it into a thermos.

"Thank you," she smiled, taking the thermos from him and sipping at it carefully. "It's hot," she said as they slipped out the front door in silence, put into the frigid March air.

Once they were outside, Luke led the way to their destination with Lorelai following behind him, complaining most of the way. "Are we ever gonna get there?" she asked, visibly shivering.

"For the last time, we're almost there."

And then they stopped. Lorelai looked up at Luke in confusion. "Luke?"

"Yeah?"

"We're at the church."

"I know," He nodded, searching through his wallet until he pulled out a credit card.

"What are you doing?"

He gestured to the door, "'S locked." he pointed out.

"So you plan to buy your buy your way in and charge it to your-" She stopped mid-sentence and grabbed his hand, staring at the card he was holding incredulously. "Hold on, you have a credit card?"

"No," he scoffed. "I stole it from my dad."

"You stole your dad's credit card?" she asked disbelievingly.

He raised his hands in the air defensively. "I'm gonna give it back."

"That's just what Rebecca Allen said to me in the third grade when she borrowed my pencil."

"I only took it so we could get in here." he said while expertly sliding the card between the two doors.

"So are we seriously breaking into the church?" she asked in surprise, "Is God going to smite us for doing this?"

"I hope not."

"Are we going to have to pray?" she asked worriedly, "Because I don't know how to pray."

He sighed and rolled his eyes, gesturing to the now open door, "Will you just get inside?"

With an impressed glance, she scurried inside, Luke in tow. "You know," she started as Luke set the toolbox down on one of the pews, opening it up and digging through it for something specific. "You never did tell me why we're here exactly."

He shrugged, handing her a flashlight. "Hold onto that, okay?" She nodded. He looked up at her, a screwdriver in one hand and a wrench in the other. "Well, we're gonna break the bells."

"We're gonna break the bells?" she asked in astonishment.

"Yeah, but we've got to be real quick, we've only got about twenty-five minutes."

"Okay, so how are we going to actually break them? 'Cause when I picture us breaking the bells, I picture us banging them with a hammer." She paused, then giggled. "That was dirty."

Luke rolled his eyes. "We're not using a hammer." he informed her, grabbing a few other essential tools and motioning for her to follow him.

"Well, that's good," Lorelai said, breathing a sigh of relief. "Considering what happened that last time you let me use one."

"Yes, because it was my idea to allow you to try and help me build a tree house when you were nine." he retorted sarcastically.

"You said that the only way for me to be allowed to go in it would be if I helped build it."

"I never thought you'd actually try to help." He grabbed the flashlight from her hand and shone it up the hole in the ceiling where the bell room was located. "So here's what we're gonna do, either you can stay down here and make sure nothing happens and I'll go up there and just mess around until I find some way to stop the ringing or you can come up with me and try and help."

"I'm going up," she chose immediately.

"Then you're going up first."

"Why can't you go up first?" she asked as he quickly gathered some of the tools in his arms.

"Because I said so, now hurry up. I don't want to have to wait an extra hour to be sure we did this right."

She nodded and cautiously walked as fast as she could up the short staircase where the bells were, Luke in tow following close behind her.

"What now?" she whispered, looking around the cramped room with all its gears uncomfortably.

He ignored her and tried to find some space to put down the extra tools. He sighed in defeat and looked up at her. "You're waiting outside."

"What?" she cried, frowning at his stern face. "I wanted to help break the bells, too."

"There's hardly enough room in here for one person, much less two. We wouldn't be able to even get near the bells if we did this together."

"Fine," she relented dramatically. "I'll go wait downstairs in the cold, all alone. But, you know, I could just stand right here and watch. Be your trusty assistant and whatnot."

"Just don't get in the way." he ordered.

She smiled gratefully. "I won't."

About ten minutes later it seemed like Luke was just finishing up. Lorelai had stopped trying to have a conversation about seven minutes before when each time she would talk, Luke would only grunt in response. As Luke muttered something to himself, Lorelai obnoxiously yawned, hoping to attract some type of attention.

"Almost done," he muttered, twisting the screwdriver one last time.

"How do you know you even did it right? I mean, we could be standing here in the next five minutes and when we think the bells aren't going to ring, they will and it'll be really loud and then we'll end up deaf."

"It's just some basic pieces; you know, a turnbuckle, a few clappers, some-"

"I'll take that as a yes," she interrupted.

"Just trust me on this," he said, wiping his hands on his jeans. "I've actually been learning some things at work. We won't be hearing the bells ring anymore."

And just like that, when the clock struck four according to Luke's watch, only silence could be heard. Lorelai looked up at Luke and smiled in sheer relief. "Thank God," she sighed.

"I second that," Luke agreed as they carefully walked back down the steep and twisty staircase.

"Well at least now we'll be able to sleep." Lorelai said, watching Luke put the tools away quickly.

"A night of sleep without any interruptions does sound nice."

The pair walked out the church doors quietly, hoping not to attract any attention from whoever might be walking by. Luckily, it was just a little after four and every houses lights were out and the town was deserted.

"You know, it's weird to see the town like this," Lorelai commented wistfully as they began walking back to the Danes home. "It's hardly ever this quiet and… peaceful. It's, I don't know how to explain it. Different, very different I guess you could say."

"It's definitely a change."

"But it doesn't seem like Stars Hollow, you know? If it were like this all the time, it'd be like any other town, only smaller in size."

He looked over at her wistful expression skeptically. "Are you trying to make a point or are you just having a moment with the town?"

"No," she said softly, shaking her head. "Just observing."

"So," Luke broke the quiet moment. "You think we'll get caught?"

She smiled dismissively. "We never get caught."

"Yet."

There was a short pause before Lorelai asked, "Can you believe we just committed vandalism in a church?" ending with a short laugh.

"The concept's a little hard to grasp, I've got to admit."

"And you know, if you noticed, it was you that did everything in there; I hardly did a thing."

"Trust me," Luke commented dryly, "I noticed."

"So, I was thinking, that in order for God not to smite you, you should do something selfless and giving."

"Selfless and giving, huh?"

She nodded her head vigorously as the two of them silently slipped into the house. "And," she whispered, hanging her coat up beside his, "I thought that a great way for you to do so would be to take me to the mall later, you know, after we sleep."

"The mall? Out of all the selfless and giving things I could do, you want me to take you to the mall?"

"Well," she shrugged, walking up the stairs, "There's a shoe sale going on."

He nodded, "Of course."

"But this isn't just any shoe sale; this is almost as good as the ones they have on Black Friday."

"Almost as good as Black Friday?" he asked in feigned shock.

She nodded in confirmation, his sarcasm lost on her. "I know, and since I haven't used any of my Christmas money yet, I thought I could use it today to buy a pair; two if I'm lucky."

"Just two? I'd be wasting my time taking you to the mall just so you can buy two pairs of shoes?"

She rolled her eyes as they stopped outside his bedroom door. "It's not like I have five thousand dollars, Luke. We're talking about Marc Jacob's and Manolo's and Vivienne Westwood shoes."

"Right, whatever was I thinking?" She pouted. He sighed. "I've got to work tomorrow, remember?"

"Oh, right," she mumbled, he shoulders sinking, her hopes crushed. "I guess I'll just get a ride home tomorrow morning. What time do you have to get up?"

"My dad wants me to be in at nine the latest."

"That's early," she commented with wide eyes. "And on the weekends, too?"

He shrugged. "You get used to it."

"Wow."

"So if you're up by eight-fifteen the latest, I could probably take you home and be a little late; he won't mind."

She smiled softly at him, "That sounds nice. I just might take you up on that."

"If you do, you better be up. I'm not taking my chances by waking you up in the morning."

"I'll be up."

She waved a quick goodnight and watched as he slipped back into his bedroom, leaving her alone in the hallway. And just like that she was back to where she was the day before. It was like she'd traveled in a circle and ended up nowhere. She was again alone, Luke was busy with his own life and she had no clue what she was doing with hers.

* * *

So I know updates have been few and far between lately, and I'm truly sorry for that. I've been going crazy stressing over school and stuff that I just haven't wanted to write at all lately and trust me, it isn't a good feeling. But I can promise that after this next chapter, updates won't be as far apart. And don't forget to review, please. The last chapter got less than 20, and I know it's a high number and all, it was just a little sad compared to previous ones. I know I'm practically begging, and I know that's wrong of me to do so, but why the sudden drop? Even just one word would satisfy me. Let's just try and make it to 300 reviews this time. Okay, I'm done ranting.

Anyways, I got a Livejournal, the links in my profile, and I'll probably update it once a week about my progress with the next chapter, along with other things. Feel free to check it out if you want.

Major thanks to my beta's Hannah and Java. They both are simply amazing!

Comments? Suggestions? Favorite Parts? Questions?

Reviews are to me as odd jobs are to Kirk.


	14. Traditional

Friends Forever

Lorelai's fifteen and Luke's seventeen

December 1983

* * *

Spring, summer and fall had come and gone and it was already winter again, though Lorelai had to admit, summer was the best and worst of them all. Most of her time had after all been spent in the Hollow with Luke and she could honestly say that it had been the most time she had spent with him in nearly over a year. Luckily his girlfriend of roughly ten months now, Caitlin, had been out of town for the better part of the season, leaving most of Luke's time to be spent with Lorelai, whether it be working together at the hardware store or relaxing down at the lake.

And now it was one of those occasional Mondays that the table happen to be set for four. Luke had surprisingly agreed to come over for dinner when Lorelai had asked if he had any plans with Caitlin that night. And in no way did she regret it. When they were younger, Lorelai couldn't help but note that her parents made sure Luke had eaten dinner with them at least once a week and as she got older, she also couldn't help but note that without Luke sitting across from her, dinners with the Gilmore's certainly weren't nearly as fun.

"So, Mom, how's the Christmas Party planning coming along?" Lorelai wondered.

"It's coming along very well," Emily smiled. "And Luke, I assume you'll be joining us as usual?"

"This Friday, right?"

"This Friday is two weeks before Christmas," Lorelai reminded him.

"It's just crazy how fast time goes by."

Luke nodded, speaking slowly, "I think I can go."

"You think you can go?" Lorelai echoed. "You can't not go, Luke. Not only will you be leaving me alone with a bunch of people I hardly know; much less care about, you'd be skipping out on fifteen years of tradition. There hasn't been a year that I can remember that either of us didn't show up. When you had the chicken pox my mother forced your dad to put some calamine lotion all over you before coming over and he made you sit in the corner the entire night so nobody else would catch it, just to ensure that you wouldn't miss the party. And then when I had the German measles and my entire face was red and itchy, did I miss the Christmas party? Of course not, I had to suck it up and put on polka-dotted dress that matched my face and sit in the same corner you did. Besides, you can't forget the apple tarts, Luke. Who needs visions of sugar plums when you can have those apple tarts?"

Luke rolled his eyes at the dramatics and turned to Emily, "Would it be alright if I brought along a guest?"

"A guest," Emily repeated, "well, that sounds lovely. Who would you be bringing with you?"

"Caitlin, of course," Lorelai interjected with a scowl. Caitlin was after all, perfect in nearly every sense of the word. And because she was Luke's perky-breasted girlfriend, she liked absolutely nothing about her.

"Do you have something against this Caitlin?" Richard questioned, confused at his daughters sudden irritated mood.

"Yeah, Lorelai," Luke smirked, well aware of her dislike of his girlfriend, "do you have anything against Caitlin?"

Lorelai narrowed her eyes at him, stabbing her salad with her fork viciously. "No," she lied evenly, all the while keeping eye contact with Luke, "I have nothing against her personally, I just think that Christmas has always been a family holiday, not one for bringing your girlfriend around with you."

"That could also be because neither of us has actually ever been dating someone during the holidays," Luke countered.

"Well I think it's wonderful, Luke. I'm looking forward to finally meeting this Caitlin," Emily commented in hopes to relieve the tension.

"Good," Luke nodded, "I bet she'll love to finally meet you as well."

Lorelai rolled her eyes. "Hey Mom, would it be okay if I brought someone along with me?"

"I wasn't aware you were seeing anyone."

"I'm not. I'll just bring a friend."

"Which friend?"

"What? Are you afraid they might clash with your décor?"

"I'm just being curious, Lorelai."

"Well I'm not sure yet so hold off on picking out the centerpiece."

"So, Emily," Luke interrupted, "who else are you inviting?"

As Emily went off into a tirade about the Candor's and how she felt obligated to invite them and their manic seven year old son, Lorelai looked up at Luke and mouthed the words "Suck up" to which he responded with a look and a shrug that meant to say "It was for your own good." She rolled her eyes but smiled nonetheless at him.

After dinner, Luke and Lorelai had gone up to her bedroom to hang out for the rest of the time before Luke had left. The night was admittedly a little off, both would agree. The conversation seemed a bit strained for some reason and a little awkward as well. Luke was sprawled across Lorelai's bed, skimming through one of the magazines on her nightstand as she tried on different clothes for the Christmas party. She had mentioned that she'd be busy for the rest of the week and that this would be her only chance to decide on which outfit she should wear and Luke had somewhat agreed, but only because he wasn't exactly thrilled to head home when it was still before eight-thirty.

Lorelai pulled out a sleek red dress and held it up, looking at it closely. "Do you think this dress will look good on me?" she asked, glancing up to see Luke intently reading one of the articles. "You know, we can get you a subscription later, now you're supposed to be helping me." He closed the pages, tossed it onto the floor and looked up at her with mock attentiveness. She frowned. "Look, just tell me what you think of this one."

As she gestured to the dress she was holding in her other hand, he sighed. "Why are you asking me this?"

"Because I know you'll be honest with me,"

With a flick of his wrist he motioned to it and said, "the cut is too low. Pick another one."

She rolled her eyes but nevertheless replaced the dress in the closet. "You know, most guys would appreciate something like that."

"Well," he began, shifting towards the end of the bed so he could watch her as she stood at the front of her closet, hands on her hips, "most guys don't look at you like you're their sister."

She snapped her head around, clearly offended. "So you look at me the same way you look at Liz?"

He rolled his eyes, shook his head and stood up. "You know, I should just get going."

"Aw, but Luke, we were going to let you try the next dress on." she teased.

Feeling suddenly a bit out of place, he shrugged. "Maybe next time, it really is getting late."

With a skeptic look, she reminded him, "It's only eight forty-five."

"And by the time I make it home it'll already be past nine."

"We can stop with the clothes, you know," she said, becoming serious suddenly. "I didn't mean to bore you, I just thought that, you know, I could hang out with you and still get this done. Kill two birds with one stone."

He shook his head. "It's not the clothes. That was fine, I promise. I've just really got to get home. You know, make sure the place hasn't been condemned."

"Okay," she nodded, "Well, I'll walk you down, then."

"No, it's fine. I've got it. You've still got to pick out something to wear. I swear I won't get lost on my way down."

"Right," she said, smiling feebly at his attempt at a joke.

"So I'll just see you Friday then."

"Yup, I'll see you and Caitlin on Friday."

"Lorelai,"

"It's getting late, remember?"

He paused at the door and turned around briefly. "You know, that last green one you had picked out would look best on you."

She let a small smile break through. "I thought you said that one was too tight."

He shrugged and said, "doesn't mean you don't look beautiful."

"Goodbye Luke." she smiled, looking away bashfully.

"Bye Lorelai."

* * *

It was Friday night, twenty-five past seven specifically (thirty-five minutes before the party started) and Lorelai was sitting down on the stairs, clad in her green dress, watching the shut door as she waited for it to open. She could vaguely hear her mother yelling at the staff setting up the living room area, but her mind was too clouded. She was thinking about tonight, about how it would go and what would happen. She loosely wondered if it would possibly end up in some sort of a fistfight, but the doorbell rang just as she began seriously contemplating the thought.

She hopped up, making sure to get to the door before the maid, or even worse, her mother. She had been skillfully avoiding Emily for the entire night thus far and did not want to ruin her streak just yet. She quickly smoothed out the visible wrinkles in her dress and took a deep breath before pulling the door open. "Hey," she said, smiling brightly as she pulled Christopher Hayden into the house by his coat tails.

"Hey yourself," he smiled back, leaning into his girlfriend reflexively.

"Hey!" Lorelai pulled back, staring at him as if he was crazy. "Do you have any idea what could happen if my mother sees us doing that?"

"Well, for one we could quit the whole sneaking around thing."

"And have her start planning our wedding?"

Chris shook his head, stepping inside and following Lorelai upstairs. "You know, I really love the whole sneaking around thing. Makes me feel like Bond; James Bond."

Lorelai laughed as they entered her room. "Don't ever do that again," she murmured, pressing her lips against his as he pushed her against the back of her door. The kissing went on for a few minutes before Christopher pulled back, his lips slowly moving to her open neck.

"Did I mention how great you look tonight?"

"No, you didn't," she murmured, pulling back but staying close enough to feel the heat radiating from his body.

"Well, you do."

"So, are you excited to be here? It's your first Gilmore Christmas party extravaganza," Lorelai asked, stepping back to sit on her bed as Chris took a seat in her desk chair.

"I'd be more excited if I were able to show you off as my incredibly hot girlfriend instead of just a friend," he mumbled.

Lorelai sighed. "Stop that. I want tonight to be a good night. I don't want you to be complaining the whole time. When the time is right we can tell people. For now, let's just enjoy the privacy while we can. You know that once we tell my parents or yours, that things will be completely different. I like what we have now." She closed her eyes tightly, suppressing the impulse to scream out in frustration. While things with Chris seemed to be going great for the most part, there were still times where she wondered what on earth she was doing.

"And what's that?"

"For God's sake Chris, we see each other nearly everyday. We always hang out. We see a movie almost every week. You're always copying my homework when you've forgot to do yours. You tell all the guys about how great it is to be hooking up with Lorelai Gilmore. We're dating! What did you think we were doing here?"

She took a deep breath, avoiding Chris's eyes until it became inevitable. She looked up to see his shocked face starting back at her. "Lore. I didn't mean it like-"

"You know, we should probably head downstairs. My mom might need my help with something."

"She hired workers, Lore, she doesn't need your help. I'm trying to apologize here and you're not even listening."

"I am listening; I just don't want to hear your apology."

"Well why not?"

Lorelai let out a small squeal of irritation as she collapsed back on her bed. "I don't know," she sighed, tiredly rubbing her hand across her face. " I'm Just nervous, I guess."

"Nervous about what?"

She shrugged, sitting back up reluctantly. "Just stuff." She wasn't planning on telling him that tonight was the night she was planning on informing Luke about their relationship. She knew better not to unless it was absolutely necessary. He'd be pissed off if he knew that something that seemed so small and pointless to him, and included Luke, was bothering her this much. It was easier just to not mention any of it.

"You, uh, want to talk about it?" he asked, nervously fidgeting in the chair.

She shook her head, fingering her necklace. "I'm fine. But really, we should go downstairs. I don't really want either of my parents to catch us up here alone."

He smiled at her and followed her out of her room, not noticing Lorelai's unusual silence.

She honestly wasn't sure why the whole Luke thing was bothering her that much. She knew that she was blowing things extremely out of proportion, but she couldn't help herself. She tried her best to chalk it up to the fact that she knew he wouldn't approve. But she knew that there had to be more than just that. That it had to be for a more real reason. But it was easier to just try and forget about it, even if for the most part it didn't work.

By the time they got downstairs it was already five minutes until eight. There were already people who, according to Emily, didn't know how to comprehend the time on a damn invitation, and were spread across the parlor mingling amongst themselves. The light atmosphere, laughter and holiday tunes playing seemed to almost make it seem like it wasn't even a Gilmore-thrown party.

"So," Chris said as they walked slowly into a small room out by the patio, "how come I've never been to one of these shin-digs before?"

Lorelai shrugged, putting a smile on her face and focusing only on the boy in front of her. "You've just got to know the right people."

"I've known you for years."

"But did I ever want you here before now?" Lorelai asked with a smirk.

He gave her one of his boyish grins. "You've always wanted me, Miss Gilmore. You've just been too proud to admit it."

"Is that so?" Lorelai asked with an amused smile.

He nodded eagerly, tugging his arm around her waist and pulling her closer. "It is. All those years that you were picking on me were simply you doing your best to hide those deep feelings you've been harboring for me all this time."

Even though she knew that wasn't even the slightest bit true, she couldn't help but let a small smile escape as she admired his confidence. "At least you're here now, though, right?" He nodded as they continued to walk around slowly. "And are you enjoying yourself?"

"Well this is the first Gilmore party that I actually have a reason to enjoy myself."

She blushed slightly, still unused to the open flirting. "Wait 'til you've had the apple tarts," she said, flashing a knowing smile as she took his hand and led him into the parlor. "I'm telling you," she emphasized, "You'll never taste anything like them. They're what heaven would taste like if I were dead."

"That good, huh? I guess we'll just have to take some and sneak them into your room to save them for later before anyone else takes them all."

"Sounds-" She stopped abruptly as she noticed Luke walking over alone. Her face brightened as she waved her hand to him in acknowledgment. "Luke!" With a smile she blindly reached for Chris's hand and pulled him over to where Luke was standing.

"Hey," he grinned, pulling his hands out of his pockets to give her a brief hug simply out of habit.

She cocked her head to the side and released Chris's hand from hers, concentrating solely on Luke at the moment. "What took you so long? You're fifteen minutes late," she scolded. "Didn't Miss Manners teach you anything?"

"Yes, but you've also told me many times before that I should never rush a girl when she's getting ready and I consider you to be more informative than Miss Manners."

Her smile diminished slightly, "Oh. So, Caitlin was running late, huh?"

He scratched at the back of his neck, noticing the sudden awkwardness between them. "Uh, yeah, she was. And there was a little traffic."

"Right," Lorelai nodded. "So, where is Caitlin?"

He awkwardly pointed his thumb behind himself, still eyeing Lorelai's company warily. "Um, we ran into your mother on the way in. She said that I should give Caitlin a tour but then for some reason thought I don't know this place well enough and insisted on giving it herself."

"Well," Lorelai began solemnly, "let's hope she makes in back in one piece, then."

Luke nodded. "Yeah." He paused. "So, um, I take it you brought Christopher."

"That could possibly be why he's standing beside me," Lorelai confirmed, acknowledging Chris for the first time since the conversation began.

"Hey," Chris said uncomfortably.

"And you brought him as a friend?" Luke checked, carefully eyeing Lorelai as if to make sure she wouldn't lie to him.

And this was the moment Lorelai had been wishing she could avoid all night; the Chris-talk with Luke. She had no idea how to explain to him that Chris was her boyfriend; that they'd been dating for almost three months now, that she hadn't told him because she was too scared to even think about what his reaction might be. She could sense Christopher stiffen beside her. With a deep breath she tentatively grasped his hand and bravely looked up at Luke. "I brought him as more than a friend," she announced. Her heart was racing; anticipating Luke's reaction much more than she should have been with her boyfriend beside her.

She watched Luke as he took in the news. His obvious shock was evident at first but was covered up quickly by composure, almost as if he'd been anticipating her announcement. He stayed silent for a few seconds, watching and doing his best to intimidate Christopher as he nervously wrung his hands and shuffled his feet before him. He was furious that Lorelai would choose someone so unlike her to date and then keep it a secret. To not tell him something had to mean something big. He had always thought that they told each other everything, or at least the main facts and goings on in their lives.

"I didn't know that he was more that a friend." He swiftly looked back at Lorelai, disappointment etched so lightly in his features that to notice it you'd need to know what you were looking for. Lorelai sighed, evading his gaze. "You said on Monday that you'd be bringing just a friend."

His tone caused her head to snap up. "Well, things change and now I'm here with Chris, my boyfriend, and you're here with Caitlin, you're girlfriend. So now it all works out."

"Right," he nodded, "it all works out."

The somewhat of a staring contest ended as Emily, with Caitlin following closely behind, approached. She remarked to Luke about what a wonderful girl she was and how she was looking forward to seeing her on a more regular basis from there on. All the while Lorelai was staring at Luke, who was eyeing Chris out of the corner of his eye, trying to figure out his sudden off mood. Was he mad about the fact she was dating Chris, or just that she hadn't told him? Maybe it was both? She couldn't exactly tell which, and was briefly startled when her mother turned the conversation to her.

"So, Lorelai, I see you invited Christopher," she said with a surprised, yet almost pleased smile that momentarily caught Lorelai by surprise. Even despite her roughly two-year friendship with Chris, she tried her best not to bring him up around her mother.

"Uh, yeah," Lorelai nodded. "You said I could invite someone, so I did."

Emily smiled. "That's lovely. Now tell me Christopher, are your parents here? I don't believe I've said hello yet."

"I think that they followed their friends into the parlor. I'll take you there," he added after noticing Emily's expectant expression.

"Thank you. Now don't worry, Lorelai, I'll have your friend returned to you soon." And with a nod, she was off, Chris reluctantly in tow, leaving only three.

"Lorelai," Caitlin began politely, "You're house is beautiful."

Lorelai rolled her eyes at her comment and only responded with a short "thanks." It had of course been obvious at day one that she had resented Luke's new girlfriend. Aside from the fact that she was Luke's girlfriend and that right there should give Lorelai a reason to loathe her, she was just too, well- nice. Or maybe nice wasn't the best word; polite, maybe. Or just too damn perfect. That could possibly be the best way to describe her. She was just too overall damn perfect. She was living the perfect life in the perfect small town with the perfect boyfriend and perfect light brown hair and perfect figure. Sure, her grades weren't as great as Lorelai's and she probably wouldn't be elected Queen at any upcoming dances, but she was really what seemed like the perfect girlfriend for Luke. She was perfectly flawed and Lorelai envied her greatly.

It wasn't that surprising when Caitlin hadn't exactly been Miss Sunshine when she had found out Luke's best friend was a fifteen year old girl who was just about in love with him. But she still tried to accept it and did her best to converse with Lorelai on the occasions that they were alone in the same room. And Lorelai wasn't a complete brat about it either. She didn't just ignore Caitlin, she tried (not her best) to make it seem as if she and Caitlin had a chance in becoming friends. But after about three or four strained and too polite months, something had snapped in both of them and the forced conversation was done with. It was clear between them that neither exactly liked one another and were only remaining as pleasant as possible for Luke's sake, and most often only in Luke's presence.

"You know," Luke started, bringing Lorelai out of her thoughts, "you should probably go find your boyfriend. I doubt he wants to spend the night with your mother."

She nodded, "You're probably right. So, later we can talk, maybe?" she asked hopefully.

"Sure. We'll talk later."

"Good, good. I should probably go now. So, enjoy your evening."

The happy couple echoed back their response and Lorelai gave a brief wave before exiting the room, leaving Luke with his date and herself to go find her own. However, she paused on her way into the next room, leaning back against a wall in an empty hallway, releasing a shaky breath. This would be the first Christmas party she'd be spending without Luke at her side and she didn't know how she felt about that. Was it going to be like that from there on? She quickly dug her palms into her eyes, careful not to smudge anything before composing herself and walking into the parlor and over to Christopher with a smile plastered on her face. Well, she thought as she introduced herself to his parents, at least she wasn't alone.

* * *

The night seemed to be going smooth so far. Lorelai, for the most part, did her best to avoid Luke whenever Caitlin was attached to his side, which was the majority of the time, really. However, Luke didn't make much of an effort to talk to either her or Chris, but she was fine with that. She had been spending her time with Chris, anyway, so it was fine. She danced with him in the hallways, still far enough apart to make it seem like they were still only friends, and laughed with him as they mocked the other occupants of whatever room they were in.

Dinner had been a little awkward when she had, like always, been seated across from Luke. With Caitlin at his side and Chris at hers, they couldn't easily fall into their pattern without making everything awkward with their dates. So instead it was just easier to only include them in the conversation when it was necessary.

She knew that inevitably during the after dinner drinks and dessert time that the four of them would eventually meet up. And as she noticed the time getting later and later, she decided to just go ahead and get it over with. She politely excused herself and Chris from a conversation with an older couple and made her way over towards Luke.

"Hey," she smiled, interrupting their conversation. "So, it's been a good night, huh?"

Their conversation ended abruptly and they both covered it up with a grin. "Yeah," Luke said as he absentmindedly took a step away from Caitlin as though he'd been caught doing something wrong. "I didn't see many apple tarts out there, though, did you?"

She shrugged innocently as images of her and Chris taking all of them and hiding them up in her bedroom for later flashed through her mind. "I noticed that. I guess we all just got over to the table a little too late."

"Guess so."

"Oh! Hey, have you seen the Martinson's new baby? I swear, I have never seen a baby with that much hair before."

"Yeah," he chuckled, "I know." He paused before looking up at her directly. "So, when were gonna plan on telling me about your boyfriend?"

Lorelai's eyes widened and she couldn't help but look away from his accusing gaze. "Soon," she lied vaguely with a shrug. "Why do you care?"

Her question confused him. "Well first of all, if that had been me and I hadn't told you I was in a relationship you would have bitten my head off."

"Who said that we were even in a relationship?" she interrupted

"If you're not in a relationship than what are you doing?"

"Dating," she said as if it were obvious.

"Dating?" He questioned the word, his tone asking if it was really all that different.

"Yes," she nodded. "Chris and I have been dating for the past 3 months."

"Okay, so, would you care to tell me the difference between dating and a relationship? In your own words for, you know, future references," he added with a grin.

"Well," she drawled out. "technically Chris and I aren't exclusive and stuff, which makes us dating and not in a relationship. Hopefully that'll help you for, you know, future references," she mocked his previous choice of words.

"So no one else knows?"

She shrugged. "Some people at school do but other than that, no."

"And when were you planning on telling me this, again?"

"Probably when we became exclusive and stuff." Technically she wasn't lying. If they never let anyone else know than she wouldn't have to have Luke know, either.

His eyes widened. "You're planning on being in a relationship with him."

She nodded and gave him a vague "Maybe."

They were quiet for a few seconds. Luke spoke up. "Does he treat you right?"

"I guess,"

"You guess?" he asked curiously.

She rolled her eyes. "He treats me fine, Luke. Look, I gotta go." She pointed over at Chris, "That's his 'please, get me out of here now' face," she explained. "Still, I want to talk later, and not about Chris, 'kay?"

He shrugged, "Sure." And with that he watched her walk away.

* * *

"So, do you two have any plans for vacation? It's only, what, two weeks away?" Lorelai asked. It was later, nearing half past nine and Lorelai had been unwillingly thrown into the same corner as Caitlin, now forced to make small talk with the one person she couldn't stand the most.

Caitlin dismissively waved her hand, "Hardly. But after talking it over with William, you know, Luke's father, well, it was decided that Luke would spend Christmas weekend with my family up in Maine."

That certainly piqued Lorelai's curiosity. She blinked at her in confusion, swearing to herself that she must have heard wrong, "Wait, Luke's spending Christmas with you?"

She nodded eagerly, "He'll be home around five-ish on Sunday, though, so it won't be like he missed spending the entire day with his family."

Lorelai shook her head, "right, right, I'm just a little surprised, that's all. He hadn't mentioned it to me."

"What are you surprised about?" Luke asked, coming up from behind Caitlin and handing her the drink she had requested.

Lorelai forced a smile, "Nothing; nothing at all."

"Oh, okay."

She looked up at him, asking tersely, "Hey, um, I was wondering if you could do that talking thing now. That okay?"

Luke looked over at Caitlin, who shrugged indifferently. "Uh, sure; lead the way." he said with a gesture of his arm.

Lorelai stormed off with Luke in tow, heading for the room just outside the patio. She knew for a fact that you couldn't hear anything in there from out in the parlor and she certainly didn't want anyone else to hear what she had to say.

"So," Lorelai started as soon as Luke shut the door behind them. "I heard that you're not gonna be here for Christmas."

"You did?"

She nodded solemnly, "heard it from your girlfriend."

"Who else?" he mumbled rhetorically with a sigh. After taking a few moments to think, he looked up at her before motioning for her to sit down next to him on the small bench facing a window. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you."

"You better be."

"I mean, she doesn't even know if I can or not yet."

"So there's a chance you might not go?"

He looked away from her. "Well, no."

"No?"

"Its not that I don't want to spend Christmas with you or my family-"

She cut him off harshly, "really, Luke? 'Cause that's what it's sounding like to me. As soon as you're in a "good" relationship with someone, you just ditch everyone else and leave them behind?"

"What? Where are you getting this? You haven't even given me a chance to explain-"

"That's just because it's so painstakingly obvious!"

He jumped up from his seat, her following in suit, both with matching fiery expressions. "I thought that we had a deal. The second a chance came along for either of us to leave and escape our lives we'd take it. Isn't this my chance? Just because it doesn't work out for you doesn't mean it won't for me. Maybe this is what I want. Maybe leaving you on Christmas will just be the beginning and the only time we'll ever see each other again is here at this stupid Christmas party."

She took his fierce words as a verbal slap to the face. She took a deep breath. "Is she really your chance?" It wasn't exactly what she wanted to know; she wanted to ask if it would really be that easy for him to just pick up and move on without her. But how could she ask that without making herself look weak?

Luke slumped back down in the chair, leaving Lorelai standing up in front of him, looking down at him cautiously. "Look, all of this is beside the point. I was never going to just leave you in the first place, okay? And if you'd let me explain that before you butted in then you'd have understood."

Warily, Lorelai took back her seat beside him. "Then why are you spending Christmas with her and not me?"

"Well, she's my girlfriend," he explained. "And I see you all the time. We're always together at the holidays and stuff so I just didn't think it would matter if I wasn't here for just one Christmas. Caitlin really likes me and I really like her. I might even love her. I don't know. But it's just with everything going on with Liz and my dad and stuff, it's like we don't even have time to be a family anymore."

"All the more reason you shouldn't go," Lorelai interjected.

"Still, what are the chances that we'd actually even stay in the same room together for more than an hour? With Caitlin, it's nice. She's got a nice family, you know, and I haven't really seen anything like that in awhile."

"So if I were part of a "normal" family, would you not go with her?" She asked curiously.

He smiled at her, "I'd have to think about it. But I promise you this- New Years Eve will be just me and you, upstairs in your room away from everyone else and we'll have our own Christmas/New Year party." He gave her a brief, hopeful grin, which she returned reassuringly.

"That sounds really fun."

The moment turned silent as the two of them sat there, looking outside as the snow fell softly to the ground.

Luke turned to face her. "So, I'm going to get back to the party, you know, make the best of the night despite everything so far." He pointed his thumb to the room behind him, a small, unsure grin at his lips.

She smiled back, nodding lightly. "Yeah, that's fine. I think I'm just going to sit out here awhile. Think about things," she told him vaguely.

"Okay." He looked around the room briefly before turning to face her. "Lorelai?" he asked quietly, not wanting to interrupt the silence that had overcome them.

Taking her eyes off the snowy landscape through the window, she looked over at him, her face showing her slight confusion. "Yeah?" she whispered.

He grinned softly at her before pressing his lips to hers. The kiss; their first kiss together if the one back at the park nearly six or seven years ago wasn't counted, was admittedly awkward to begin with. But as seconds passed and the tension between their lips lessened, the kiss became more and more heated. Their lips moved feverishly against each other as Luke's tongue sought out hers. The passion that Lorelai had always claimed to be there was most certainly there. As she moved closer, she tossed one of her legs over his lap in a near straddle position, moaning quietly as his hands moved from her hair to her back, rubbing his hands up and down it eagerly. Her arms were locked around his neck, keeping her close as she tugged and toyed with the ends of his hair.

And suddenly it was over. She and her swollen lips were back on her side of the bench and he was on the other. One of her most memorable moments to happen in her life so far was over and all she could do was stare at Luke with wide eyes and breathe out a short and satisfied, "Wow."

Beside her, Luke, breathing equally as heavy as Lorelai, nodded in agreement with a wide-eyed look.

"So, uh, what was that?" she asked, her voice barely audible as she intently searched his face for some sort of answer.

He swallowed thickly. "Mistletoe," he explained, halfheartedly pointing his finger up above them.

"Huh," she commented, staring up at it intently as she bit at her lower lip. "Wonder how that got there."

He shrugged, his eyes focusing on everything but her as she did the same. "The maid, maybe.

"Or my mom," Lorelai added.

"Could have been your dad," he offered into the silence.

"I doubt it,"

He nodded, "Yeah, me too,"

She looked over at him worriedly, "This is uncomfortable."

"Just a little," she confessed.

There was a pause before Lorelai spoke up. "We should get back to the party."

"We should."

"Well, you can go back first; maybe it won't look that suspicious."

"Okay, sure." With one last look at her, he pushed himself up; smoothing out his shirt and pants before turning around and walking briskly out of the room. However, at the last second he turned around, questioning her unusual silence, "You okay?"

"Yeah," she turned around, smiling and nodding reassuringly. "I'm fine. Just gonna sit here and watch the snow. It's pretty this time of night."

"'Kay," he nodded, accepting her answer before asking the question that was obviously on his mind, "So um Lorelai? Just for the record, this," he gestured between the two of them, "this never happened, right?"

She smiled, albeit a fake one, and nodded once at his somewhat hopeful face. "It never happened," she assured him.

"Okay, good."

"Good," she echoed.

"Well I should get back out there."

Her eyebrows rose in mock-surprise, "Don't want to keep Caitlin waiting too long," she commented sarcastically.

"Lorelai,"

She turned back around to face the window, leaning back on her hands and crossing her legs. "I'll be in here."

"You know, I think we might actually be heading out right now, so,"

"So I'll see you on New Years," she finished knowingly.

"Lorelai-"

"Luke," she began more tightly, "I'll see you New Years,"

His shoulders dropped in defeat. "I'll see you New Years," he repeated.

Once she was sure he was completely out of the room, she sighed loudly and dropped her head to her hands miserably. That was not how it was supposed to go. She was not supposed to kiss Luke. She was not supposed to make out with Luke. She wasn't even supposed to think about kissing Luke or making out with Luke or the feel of Luke's hands in her hair or his fingers stroking her back. She had a boyfriend. He had a girlfriend. That was not supposed to happen.

They weren't seven. They couldn't chalk it up as childish humor or curiosity. They were older now. There were consequences that possibly would need to be dealt with. Even if it was only the first time it had happened and even if it was following the holiday tradition of kissing under the mistletoe, they had responsibilities now. What if they had been caught?

Kissing Luke was officially on her things to never do again list.

She sighed to herself and shook her head lightly, ceasing the nonexistent tears threatening to escape. She couldn't believe that things had gotten this messed up. But with a small smile she reminded herself that it was Luke who had initiated the kiss. He was the one that kissed her. She wasn't fawning over him like she had done nearly all her life, she wasn't throwing herself at him; it was him this time. And that made her smile. With a shaky breath, she stood up, clearing her mind of all Luke related thoughts and focused only on the party and getting through the rest of the night.

She had a boyfriend, she reminded herself as she walked as confidently as she could back into the parlor. She had a faithful and willing boyfriend and she needed to remember that. Kissing Luke was a simple fluke. He obviously didn't want it to happen again. He had Caitlin. He might even love Caitlin. And she had Chris.

With a forced smile she casually walked up beside Chris and looped her arm through his. He excused himself from the elder man he was talking to and led her over to a partially secluded corner. "Where've you been?" he asked, rubbing her arms slowly with his hands.

She shook her head and kissed him lightly while fingering his tie. "No where."

He didn't question it any further and for some reason that bothered her. "Okay, well, you want to ditch this place? It's getting pretty boring."

Her averted eyes shut and she took a deep breath. To hell with Luke, she thought. He didn't want her. Chris, however, did.

She smiled up at him. "Grab the champagne and let's head up to my room, okay? I think I know a way we can pass the time."

* * *

Honestly, did you think that I'd make you wait this long for this chapter, force you to sit through Chris and Lorelai being all couple-y and not give you any amazing LL scenes? Hopefully this one was up to people's standards.

Anyway, sorry for the long wait. Hopefully it won't take me 9 months to update again… Also, thanks to my beta, Kaci, who is also my inspiration for finally finishing this up.


	15. Crash

**A/N: I know, I know. It's been over a year. But I watched GG all this week and had to do this. I couldn't help it!**

Friends Forever

Lorelai's fifteen and Luke's seventeen

January 1984

* * *

He sighed. He had been in the Gilmore's driveway for God knows how long (at least twenty minutes, he seemed to believe), and still was in no way motivated to get out and talk. It would just be too hard. He did not want to explain to anyone, not even Lorelai, what was going through his head at that moment.

His sister was pregnant. Fifteen and pregnant. What the hell had happened there?

He sighed, shook his head, and gripped the steering wheel of his truck until his knuckles whitened. He thought he might throw up, but doubted it. He did think he might cry, though- not because his sister was pregnant, though; he honestly could care less about Liz's shenanigans- it was his dad that was making him like this.

His dad had been diagnosed with cancer- a year to live at the most.

He gave a sardonic snort, laughing quietly to himself as he thought, _this is the life, isn't it?_

The clock on the dashboard told him it was six o'clock. The Gilmores ate at six thirty. Climbing out of his truck, he figured that it'd be best to head inside now, rather than make a scene during dinner. His pace slowed as he approached the large, intimidating entrance as he pondered the family's reactions. He hoped they would sympathize with them, knew that Lorelai would, but wasn't sure how the elder Gilmores would react. Would they just shrug it off as if they expected it all and then send him home because, well, he didn't belong in their life, their society?

He had been getting that feeling from them more and more lately, especially when he skipped out on Christmas to be with Caitlin. Caitlin, God, he didn't even want to think about her right now. But, he was growing up, he and Lorelai were starting to distance themselves from one another. It was mid-January and he had no recollection of talking to her, much less seeing her, since New Year's Eve. He knew that the Gilmores were aware of this, and knew that they were using it to their advantage. With Luke there less and less, they hoped that Lorelai would be less influenced to want to live a life not similar to her parents, and, eventually, Lorelai would want Luke out of her life, too.

Luke shook his head, erasing the thoughts like an etch-a-sketch and knocked on the door. It was answered by a timid maid he had yet to meet who, when Luke asked, directed him to the first Gilmore she could find- Richard.

He and Richard had never been particularly fond of one another seeing as he wasn't best friends with either Luke or Luke's parents, but sometimes, they agreed upon things, being the only two men at the Gilmore home most of the time. However, seeing Richard at that moment, the first friendly face all day, made him want to break down and cry.

He didn't, though. Instead, he held a hand out to Richard, shaking it politely. "Hello, Richard."

"Hello, Luke, did we know you were stopping by tonight? I don't believe Emily had Lisa set a fourth setting at the table…"

"Uh, no," Luke fumbled, searching for the words to explain his being there. "I just, I- I had a bad day," he explained simply, swallowing the lump in his throat.

"Oh? Would you like to talk about it?" he asked uncomfortably. He and Luke never talked. "Or would you rather me let you go talk to Lorelai?"

"Well, as much as I'd like to talk to her, I think I should, uh, fill you in on everything so you can let Emily know, too."

"This sounds serious."

Luke laughed self-deprecatingly. "You have no idea," he told the older man. "I just don't want to make a whole scene later, you know. Now would probably be best."

Richard nodded and led the boy into his office. Once they were settled, both tightly gripping their own drinks, Luke began explaining everything he had found out that day. He told how his dad had sat him down at the kitchen table, told Luke of his condition, and left for work before giving his son a chance to process what he'd learned. How Luke had then found his sister in her room, listening to some of the most depressing, sappiest music ever and just as he went to explain their father's impending death, Liz told him she was pregnant. She didn't seem to regret the whole being-pregnant thing, just that the father wasn't that happy about it. She told Luke she was sure that it was definite, showing him the seven positive pregnancy tests that had been in a shoebox under her bed. He had left home without explaining to Liz that their dad had cancer, and had driven around aimlessly before ending up in the Gilmore driveway, where he sat for about a half-hour.

Richard seemed shocked, but took it all in with understanding. "You'll stay here tonight. You'll have dinner with us, and can stay in the guest room. We'll help you figure something out."

Luke was shocked, especially at Richard's serenity about it all, and simply nodded. In the middle of his explanation, he had begun to cry, but was glad that Richard had kept from pointing it out.

"Why don't you go talk to Lorelai while I explain everything to Emily, okay?"

Again, Luke nodded.

As the two headed toward the door of Richard's office, Richard stopped Luke with a hand on the young boy's shoulders. "It'll all be okay," he promised quietly.

"Thanks," Luke offered, along with a small grin of gratuity.

The two men went their separate ways, Richard toward the dining room and Luke up the stairs to talk with his best and most missed friend.

He knocked at the door patiently, thinking only of finally laying down in a bed and just letting it all out. He wouldn't be as embarrassed to cry in front of Lorelai as he had been to cry in front of Richard.

Behind the door, he heard rustling and mumbling. "Who-who is it?" Lorelai asked cautiously, a slight giggle in her tone.

Luke rolled his eyes and reached for the doorknob, "It's me," he called back.

Before he had a chance to turn the knob, Lorelai swung it open, poking only her head out. "Oh, hey, what's up?"

"Uh," Luke began, staring at her disheveled hair. He tried to push the door back some more, but she resisted.

"Hey!"

"What are you doing?" he asked, having opened the door wide enough to see her body wrapped in only a bed sheet.

"None of your business, God!"

"Are you doing what I think you're doing?"

"Well, if I'm doing what you think I'm doing, how about you leave me alone for now and I'll see you at dinner?" she asked, already trying to shut the door on him.

His strength outbeat her and, as he stood holding the door open about six inches, he asked, frustrated to no end, "Are you having sex?"

She laughed, "Not right now, no."

He glared at her, "I swear to God, Lorelai," he threatened angrily. "Is he in there?"

They both knew that 'he' was Christopher.

"Maybe," she shrugged. "But he won't be for long if you don't leave me alone, so if you would please-"

"I can't fucking believe this!"

"Hey!"

"You're fifteen!"

"Look, I will not allow you to judge me-"

"Judge you! For Christ's sake, Lorelai-"

"Just get out! And leave me alone!"

"You're making a mistake," he insisted.

"I am not!"

"You are, too, and you know it, Lorelai!"

"I love him, Luke!"

He laughed. Oh, how she could make him laugh sometimes. "You love him?" he asked, talking as if he were amusing a small child.

She huffed, "Yeah, Luke, I do! Not that you'd know what that felt like 'cause your girlfriend is too much of a tight-ass bitch to love anyone!"

"Hey!"

"No wonder why you're so uptight- your girlfriend isn't giving you any," she laughed, shook her head. If he wanted to fight, oh, she could fight.

"You know what, fine!" He stopped pushing on the door and began walking away.

"Fine!"

"Do what you want, fuck up your life, whatever," he called over his shoulder.

"I can and will do what I want, okay? I don't have to listen to what you have to say, or what my parents have to say, or anyone else for that matter!" she called after him, trying not to be too loud so that her parents wouldn't come rushing up the stairs to see what all of the screaming was about. She did not need that.

Her door slammed shut about the same time as the door to the guest room Luke was staying in did.

He couldn't believe this. Couldn't believe so much could go so wrong in so little time. Was this really happening? Or was all of this just a dream? Luke threw himself down onto the bed, not bothering to kick his shoes off as he reached for one of the pillows. He laid there, clutching the pillow to his face as he thought about Lorelai.

His Lorelai- fifteen-year old, innocent, best friend Lorelai was just down the hall having sex with Christopher.

That alone made him want to throw up. Or cry. He was too confused to differentiate between feelings.

How had they gotten here?

_When the hell did we all grown up?_

* * *

"Lorelai, you seem especially quiet tonight," Emily remarked softly.

The first half of dinner had been spent in complete silence. Emily and Richard would look at either Luke or each other every five minutes or so, not knowing what they could say that would comfort Luke. Luke had remained quiet because he hadn't been able to stop all of the thoughts from coming all night, especially since his encounter with Lorelai; his mind had him so distracted, he hardly even touched his dinner.

Lorelai, on the other hand, was eating in silence just because she was mad at Luke, and wanted him to know it. She was oblivious to her parents' concerned stares toward her at-the-moment enemy.

"Yeah, well," she shrugged, stabbing a piece of a carrot with her fork.

Emily nodded knowingly, seeming to think that Lorelai had been put in a bad mood because of the news Luke had brought. "I see."

Lorelai looked at her strangely, not knowing what to make of her mother letting her off so easily.

"You know," Emily said, he thoughts directed at no one in particular, "I honestly can't believe all of this horrible things can be happening at once."

Richard nodded in agreement.

Luke shrugged it off, staring at his plate in silence.

Lorelai suddenly seemed a lot more interested in conversing.

"It's just not fair that all of this would happen at once," she remarked. "You and your family certainly do not deserve this, Luke."

Again, Luke shrugged. The stares he was receiving from Lorelai were making him feel extremely uncomfortable. "Yeah, but that's life, isn't?" He looked back down at his plate.

"So, I don't want to ruin the moment," Lorelai began nervously, "but what are you guys talking about?"

Her mother shot her a look. Clearly, she had said something wrong. "What?" Lorelai defended, looking at her dad for help.

"Lorelai," her mother stated calmly, "that is unacceptable."

"Unacceptable?" she cried desperately. "How?"

"Your insensitivity is only bound to make Luke feel worse! I did not raise you to act this way, Lorelai!"

"But Mom-"

"I am really disappointed in you, Lorelai. This is not a joking matter."

"Emily," Luke interrupted, "It's okay, really."

"It most certainly not is okay! My daughter is over here making jokes while your father and sister are in the condition they are in!"

"What? What's wrong with Will and Liz?" Lorelai asked desperately, her head moving quickly from her mother to Luke to her father to back to Luke to her mother once again.

Luke stood up, interrupting the chaos. "May I be excused?" he asked hopefully, tiredly.

Lorelai stood up, "Me too?" she asked, her voice frantic.

"Sit down, Lorelai," Emily admonished. She turned to Luke, her face softened. "And yes, Luke, you may. I understand that today must have been tiring for you at the least."

"Thanks," he mumbled.

"And if you need anything, Luke" she called after him, "feel free to ask Lisa. That's what she's here for."

He nodded, continued up the stairs and away from the staring, worried faces.

"Look what you've done, Lorelai," Emily reprimanded, "Now finish your dinner."

Lorelai rolled her eyes, sighed as she picked up her fork again and mumbled, "I just wanted to know what was going on."

Her father spoke up for the first time throughout the entire meal, stating quietly, "William has cancer, Lorelai, and Elizabeth is pregnant." He hoped that once it was out in the open, Lorelai would stop being so impolite.

Lorelai's breath caught in her throat. "What?" she asked softly.

"Don't act like you didn't know, Lorelai," her mother scoffed. "I honestly have absolutely no clue what's going on in your mind sometimes-to be so careless!"

"I-I need to be excused." Lorelai stated softly, stumbling to get out of her chair just as much as she had getting the words out of her mouth. She ignored her mother's calls, leaping from step to step as she ran up the staircase and down the hallway until she was just outside of the room Luke had become accustomed to staying in.

She hesitated before knocking, trying to process what she had just found out. Will had cancer. Liz was pregnant. She couldn't believe it. Why hadn't Luke told her?

Because she was busy screwing her boyfriend.

Her breath hitched. Luke had come to talk to her, to tell her what was going on and to confide in her and she had ended up screaming at him, saying horrible things that she, right now, would take back in a second.

She ran a hand over her face, whispered to herself, "Dammit," as she tried not to cry. What had she done?

She looked at the door, tried to listen for any noises in the room behind it, but heard nothing. She wasn't sure if she should wait, let him cool off and whatnot, or try to talk to him now.

Selfishly, she chose to talk now, simply because she didn't want to be alone at the moment. She brought her fist to the door, knocked lightly, hopefully. She bit her bottom lip, moved it back and forth between her teeth as she waited for Luke to respond.

She was getting ready to knock again when she heard his voice, faint and weak, ask, "What?"

Just his voice made her want to cry even more. He sounded so defeated.

How could she have done this to him?

"Um, can I, uh, come in?" She didn't dare reach for the door knob, choosing to wait rather than angering him even more by barging in.

She heard the bedsprings squeak faintly, the floor creak slightly, before he appeared in front of her, the door cracked just enough for her to see his face.

"Luke," she pleaded, her eyes tracing his exhausted features, his cap-less head and disheveled hair. His eyes showed signs of having given up, but also sort of longing.

"I'm tired."

"I'll only be a few minutes," she promised softly, her eyes begging him to let her in.

Without a fight, he opened the door wider, turning around and shuffling back to the bed in silence, not daring to look at her.

Lorelai watched as he hopped onto the side of the bed, his feet dangling just barely above the antique rug that covered the hardwood flooring; most of his weight was on his hands as he leaned back, his head turned upward at the ceiling. She followed his suit, sitting next to him, but not too close. Rather than looking up, she looked at him, longing to give him a hug that would speak for her, tell him how sorry she was, not just for his family, but also for her actions, her words, from earlier.

Instead, she took his hand. It brought his attention toward her, but she continued to stare at their hands. She had never taken the time to see the noticible difference in their hands. It wasn't just that his were bigger than hers, but also that they were much more coarse, much less delicate.

She remembered when they'd make handprints out of plaster, for their parents to keep. They had almost always had the same size hands then.

Now hers was much smaller, and it made her sad. They had grown up, changed. Hers was delicate, clean. His was rough, scattered with the occasional scar and dirt.

It didn't just make her sad, it made her depressed.

She was crying now, for sure. She was crying, and she knew Luke was looking at her, and she did not want him to see her crying. Not now, not yet. She had wanted to talk, to apologize, to listen. The tears could come later, she had told herself, not now. Luke should be the one crying, she told herself.

"You okay?" he asked hesitantly, placing his hand on hers.

She looked up, saw the concern on his face, choked back a sob. Without thinking she threw herself at him, keeping hold of the hand that he held and wrapping her other arm around his shoulder. They fell back on the bed in an awkward hug, Lorelai's face buried in Luke's neck as she alternated from sobbing and telling Luke how sorry she was.

Luke, surprised, simply shifted her until she was lying on top of him, using one hand to rub her back as the other held her close. He bit back the tears, but his breathing was just as erratic as Lorelai's.

"So sorry," she mumbled. "If I had known-"

"Shh," Luke comforted.

"Everything."

He nodded, continued to rub her back, "I know."

It took Lorelai ten minutes to calm down to the occasional sniffle. "Hey Lorelai," Luke said quietly.

"Mmm," she acknowledged. Her face was still buried into the crook of Luke's neck.

"Can we, uh, move?"

"Huh?" She lifted her head up, stared at him in confusion.

"My legs," he explained, gesturing toward his feet hanging off the edge of the bed.

"Oh." She hadn't noticed that they were lying sideways. "Yeah."

The two shifted so that they were lying with their heads against the pillows, but the closeness they had shared was gone as they each lied on their own sides of the queen mattress.

"So, I take it you know, then." Luke stated, breaking the silence.

Lorelai turned her head to look at him, "Luke-"

"You're sorry," he smirked. "I know."

"I wish you had told me," she said softly.

He scoffed, his eyes darkening, "It's not like I wasn't going to."

"I know, and I'm-"

"Sorry about that too, I know," he clipped, "I just can't believe you, of all people-"

"Me, of all people?" she interrupted, "What's that supposed to mean?"

"You're fifteen."

"I'll be sixteen in three months."

"You've been dating him for four months."

"I've known him practically forever."

"You've known me forever."

"What's that supposed to mean? Are you jealous, Luke?" she asked angrily.

"No, I'm disappointed."

"Of course you are," she bit. "I'm just such a disappointment to everyone, aren't I?"

"Come on, Lorelai."

"No, I'm serious. It's all I ever hear. From my parents, teachers, neighbors, you."

"Lorelai," he pleaded.

"'_You could be so much more, Lorela,' 'So much better,' 'Where are the manners I taught you?' 'Why are you dressing that way? That's not how I raised you to dress,' 'Why are you sleeping with him?' 'How can you behave in such a way?'_" she mocked, bordering hysterical as the tears fought to return.

"Stop," he asked softly, grabbing her hand once again.

"I wanted it," she assured him quietly.

He nodded, bit his lip.

"I just, I wanted to make a decision- something for myself. I didn't want to listen to my parents. I don't know- it sounds kind of crazy now."

Again, he nodded.

"It's hard to explain."

"You said you loved him," Luke pointed out quietly.

She nodded, shrugged.

"Do you?"

Swallowed the lump in her throat. "Maybe. I don't know."

"Do you parents even know?"

"Know that we're having sex?"

Luke rolled his eyes, "That you two are together," he clarified.

"Oh." A nod of understanding. A look of evasion. "No."

He sighed. "You two are being, uh, safe, right?" he asked. He had had enough surprise pregnancies for a lifetime after today.

She chuckled. "Yes, Luke. We're safe. Now what about you and Caitlin. You two being safe, too?" she asked with a small, teasing smile.

He tried to force a grin, "Uh, well, we were."

"Were?"

"Yeah. We kind of broke up a few weeks ago," he mumbled, trying to brush it off.

Lorelai frowned, "Oh, Luke,"

"It's nothing," he dismissed.

"Do you want to, you know, talk about it?" she asked, her face reflecting her genuine concern for him.

"Yeah, it's nothing now."

She nodded, "Right." She looked over at him, into his eyes, "So, do you wanna talk about, you know, your dad, Liz…"

He sighed deeply, broke the stare, shut his eyes tightly. "Now seems to be as good a time as any,"

Luke looked back at her, his eyes meeting hers for a moment before looking away. He went into the same story he had relayed to Richard, only this time sharing how he had cried for almost an hour after his father left for work, and how he threw up when Liz informed him of her pregnancy. How he feels completely helpless, and how he just has no clue what to feel, what to do.

Lorelai listened intently as Luke spoke, never missing a word. Each time his breath hitched, she'd squeeze his hand. Each time a stray tear would escape, she'd wipe it away silently.

"You want me to stay here tonight?" she asked once he was finished, gesturing to the bed they were lying in.

He shrugged indifferently. "If you want."

She offered him a weak smile, "I want."

Silence overcame them and Lorelai's mind had wandered back to their hands. She stared at them, his enclosed around hers.

When she was younger, looking at Luke's hand made her long for a day of finger-painting together.

Now, their hands together almost made her sick. She would look at Luke's hands now and long for a day where he would touch her with them, his hands on her skin.

They didn't finger-paint anymore.

They had sex.

They were too old for finger-painting.

They had problems to deal with.

They had lives.

Separate lives.

They were grown up.

And how, exactly, did _that _happen?

* * *

**A/N: I know, over a year, I said I was done, blah, blah, blah. I couldn't help myself. This story is like my baby. I want to complete it. I have soooo many ideas. I just don't have the time. But, hey, I'll have another chapter posted tomorrow! And I'm working on a third! Go me!**

**btw, please review/let me know if anyone is still interested in reading this? and, you know, just to let me know what you think!**


	16. Quick

Friends Forever

Lorelai's fifteen and Luke's seventeen

February 1984

* * *

"'Ello?"

"Luke?"

"Lorelai?"

"Hey, I was wondering if you could do me a favor."

"What the hell?"

"What?"

"It's- It's one in the morning."

"I know, but, see, I didn't know who else to call."

"Can't it wait until morning? You know, when the sun is up and people are actually awake?"

"I'd rather it didn't."

"Seriously?"

"Please, Luke."

"What the hell do you need at one in the morning?"

"Just- just stuff, Luke, okay?"

"My dad'll kill me if he finds out I'm gone."

"Like you said, it's one in the morning. How would he know?"

"Well, he's been getting up in the middle of the night lately. The chemo seems only to affect him at night."

"Oh."

"Yeah."

"You could just explain that I needed you. It's not like it's a lie and he's always been soft when it comes to me."

"What do you need?"

"Now, there's no need to sigh, Luke."

"Lorelai, it's one in the morning. If you want your favor, then just spit it out."

"Just come pick me up."

"What?"

"Please, Luke."

"You're not running away, are you?"

"No, Luke, I'm not running away."

"And this isn't just a late night joy ride because you're bored and can't sleep?"

"No, it's not, Luke."

"They why do you need me to pick you up?"

"Because, I need you to drive me somewhere."

"Where?"

"Luke, I promise to tell you everything as soon as you get here. Just not now."

"Are you crying?"

"Can you just, I don't know, hurry? Please?"

"Uh, yeah, I'll leave now."

"I can meet you on the corner of Pine and Summer. I don't want your truck to wake up my parents."

"My truck isn't that loud."

"It has its moments."

"Look, it'll take me a half hour at most to get there, so don't leave until, uh, one forty-five."

"You're bound to be waiting out there for at least ten minutes."

"Well, at least you won't be standing out in the cold for ten minutes."

"It's not that bad out."

"Have you been outside? It's below freezing."

"I'm outside now and I'm fine."

"Why on earth are you outside?"

"Just felt like it,"

"Well, go back inside. I don't want to be driving an icicle around."

"Icicle, yeah."

"Lorelai, are you okay?"

"Look, we'll talk when you get here, okay. Now hang up before you end up falling down the stairs or something. All I can hear in the background is drawers slamming and whatnot."

"Just getting dressed."

"Well, I'll see you soon, okay?"

"One forty-five."

"See you then."

"See you then, Lorelai."

"Bye Luke. Oh God, Lorelai, what have you done now?"

* * *

"Hey."

"Hey."

"You weren't waiting too long, were you?"

"Nah, just about five minutes or so."

"That's a lie."

"Whatever."

"You didn't have to change."

"Well, if whatever we end up doing is illegal, I don't want to be wearing my pajamas in my mugshot."

"We're not doing anything illegal."

"Okay, then. So, what exactly are we doing? Why am I here?"

"Well, um, I-I think I might, uh, be pregnant."

"Pregnant?"

"Yeah."

"Oh."

"Yeah."

"So, um, do you want to talk about it?"

"No."

"Okay."

"Good."

"So, uh, if you don't want to talk about it, why, uh, why am I here?"

"There's a 24-Hour Walgreens twenty minutes down the street."

"And there's a gas station right next to it."

"So?"

"I don't know, I thought you were just saying random things."

"No, Luke. I need to go there."

"To Walgreens?"

"Yes. You know, for, you know."

"Oh. Oh! Like, a test?"

"Yeah, I just- I wanna be sure before I freak out."

"You already seem like you're freaking out."

"No, not freaking out yet."

"You sure?"

"Can you just drive?"

"I am."

"Thanks."

"So, uh, Chris is the father, right?"

"Yes, Luke. Just because I'm pregnant does not mean that I'm a whore."

"I'm sorry. I was just, you know, checking."

"I know, I just- I don't know how this happened."

"You seemed like you knew how it happened when I walked in on you two."

"Seriously, Luke?"

"Sorry, again. I didn't mean it like that."

"Yeah, well. I just- I thought we had been safe- covered, you know? I- I never thought this would happen. _How _did this happen?"

"You know, maybe we should just stop talking. Just until we get there."

"That sounds good."

"Good."

* * *

"So, uh, which one do you want?"

"I don't know. I didn't realize there were so many."

"Me neither. Like a person needs so many. God, if there was just one this would be so much-"

"We could, you know, get them all."

"What? That's like a hundred dollars worth of pregnancy tests right there."

"Then I'll just get one."

"You can't just get one."

"I can't get one, I can't get them all- God, Luke, why don't you pick them out and I'll meet you up front."

"Lorelai! Lorelai, get back here."

"I'm getting gum. And ice cream. I'll just meet you up front."

"Fine. Whatever."

* * *

"I got four."

"I only need three."

"You're buying four."

"But I might not have enough for my ice cream and gum if I buy four."

"Seriously, Lorelai?"

"Look, if you're insisting on getting four, then you might as well get five, because it's an odd number and then we can't possibly get two positives and two negatives."

"Fine, I'll go get another one."

"No, Luke. Just put one on that shelf and we'll go."

"No. If you're not getting five then you're getting four."

"But my ice cream and gum!"

"Will always be here."

"But if they're all positive, I'm gonna need the ice cream."

"And if they're not?"

"And if they're not?"

"I don't know, I'm out of gum. I need the gum. And the ice cream."

"Fine, whatever. I have money. I'll pay the difference."

"Luke, you don't have to do that."

"I swear to God, Lorelai. It's two o'clock in the freakin' morning. Make up your mind and let's go!"

"Fine, but you're paying the difference."

* * *

"Did you see the way the lady was looking at us?"

"No."

"Ugh, it was like, she was all arrogant and above us and disappointed and I don't know what else. Ugh! She was probably thinking _'Kids these days, so irresponsible, getting knocked up before high school is over. All they do is have sex without thinking about the consequences. Blah, blah, blah.'_"

"She probably wasn't thinking that."

"Oh, no, Luke. She was. You could tell. I mean, God, how dare she judge me! She doesn't know my story! These could be for my mother, a friend. And for all she knows I could have some sort of age-appearance condition that makes me look fifteen but really I'm thirty."

"Yeah. Hey, you got kind of quiet over there. What? No more ranting?"

"No, it's just- if I am pregnant, I'll be getting looks like that. A lot."

"Just ignore them."

"'Cause it's that easy."

"It should be."

"Well it's not. Everywhere I go, people will be judging me. Neighbors, teachers, friends, parents of friends, hell, my own parents. Can't wait to see what they say when I tell them what I've been doing for fun lately."

"It's not definite, you know. It could be false. Maybe we're doing all of this worrying for nothing."

"I doubt it."

"Come on, there's always the possibility,"

"No, I mean, I'm pretty sure about this, Luke. The tests- they're just for confirmation."

"Oh."

"Yeah."

"Wow."

"I know."

"Hey,"

"Yeah?"

"I'll always be here for you. You know that."

"I do."

"And, hey, Liz is pregnant too, so, if you've got any questions or whatever… well, it'd probably just be better to look them up in a book or something."

"Yeah. But, hey, at least I don't need to ask you to go shopping with me now."

"Well, that's a relief."

"Yeah. Hey Luke?"

"Yeah?"

"I like your hands. You know, they're nice. And I like holding them. Makes me feel, I don't know, good? Safe?"

"Okay?"

"Just thought I'd say that. I don't know why."

"Well, we're almost to your house. Do you, uh, want me to come in with you, or just drop you off out front or…?"

"Would you mind, um, coming in with me? I don't really want to, you know, do this alone."

"Of course."

"Thanks."

"Anytime."

"So, if you just wanna park outside the driveway, I left the front door open."

"My truck is not that loud."

"Okay, Luke."

* * *

"You know, I've never peed on a stick before."

"Um, okay."

"Sorry, just thinking out loud."

"Right."

"How much longer?"

"About a minute and a half."

"God, that's a long time."

"I guess. So, uh, does Christopher know about this?"

"The pregnancy? No."

"Oh, so he has no idea that…"

"No."

"I see."

"Chris and I sort of broke up. A week ago. On Valentines Day."

"Jeez,"

"Yeah. His 'big surprise' that he had been telling me about for days simply consisted of us making out on his bed. I kind of just, I don't know, got angry. Upset. Frustrated. We never do anything but make out. I guess I just wanted more."

"Well, you deserve more."

"Thanks."

"You're welcome."

"Not just for the compliment. For everything, tonight, these past years, whatever's coming ahead. I know you'll be there. So, thanks."

"Anytime."

"You know, your life and mine would make one hell of a Lifetime movie."

"Yeah, it certainly would."

"So, how much longer?"

"Just about fifteen seconds."

"So, we can go look now?"

"It's only ten seconds. You can wait."

"No, Luke, I can't. These sticks are about to predict my future. Whether I finish high school, go to college, get married, everything. This could change everything. Oh my God! This could change _everything!_"

"And the ten seconds is up."

"I don't wanna look. I can't look. Look for me."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, yes, just hurry!"

"Okay, okay."

"So the verdict?"

"Uh, they're all saying the same thing. Looks like you're, uh, pregnant."

"Well, then."

"You okay? I know that's kind of a dumb question, but…"

"This is definitely going to change everything, isn't it?"

"Seems that way."

"I'm pregnant."

"You're pregnant."

* * *

Wow. Never thought I'd do an all-dialogue chapter. But, from what I recall, that's what this chapter mostly was, so I decided to go with it.

And all of those out there who were looking forward to a Luke/Lorelai baby Rory, well, I'm sorry. But thanks for all of the reviews from the last chapter! I'm so glad people are still interested in this! Hopefully everyone will continue reading/reviewing? I've officially made it my New Years Resolution to try my hardest to complete this.


	17. Disappointment

Friends Forever

Lorelai's fifteen and Luke's seventeen

March 1984

* * *

Lorelai stood in front of her mirror, her shirt lifted to reveal her flat stomach. She rubbed her hand over it, wondering how small the one and a half month old baby was. With a sigh, she threw down her shirt, took a few steps backward, and flopped down onto her bed. It was a Friday night. Her friends had called her last night, bragging about the awesome party being thrown in Woodbridge the next day. Lorelai, eager not to let her pregnancy get in the way of her last few months freedom, accepted the invitation right away. But then there was the mention of booze. Sure she had the willpower to say no to alcohol, but there were too many what-ifs to consider. What if she chose to drink punch or a soda, and someone spiked her drink? What if there was an irresistible guy who wouldn't take no for an answer and insisted she let him get her a drink? What if her morning sickness decided to visit her when it wasn't morning, and left her throwing up in the bathroom for half of the night like it had just three nights ago.

She did not like how misleading the term 'morning sickness' was.

So, she had told all of her friends earlier at school that she couldn't make it to the party, explaining that her parents grounded her for whatever reason. It had worked and now she was home on a Friday night.

She honestly could not remember the last time that had happened.

The clock on her bedside table read 5:06. She grabbed the phone right next to it, dialing without looking at the numbers as she reached for the magazine on the floor.

"William's Hardware, Luke speaking- What can I get for ya?"

"Well, I want a pony, and a trampoline, and some chocolate covered pretzels."

"Lorelai?"

"Lorelai? Who is this Lorelai that you speak of?"

"I'm at work, Lorelai, what do you want?"

"Could you come over tonight?"

"What? Come on, Lorelai, it's a Friday night!"

"Please, Luke! I think I'm finally ready,"

"Ready? Ready for what?"

"To tell. You know, about the whole me-being-pregnant thing. I don't wanna catch my parents by surprise when I suddenly don't fit into any more of my clothes,"

"Oh, you're sure you really want to do that tonight?"

"It's as good of a time as any, right?" she asked optimistically. "What time do you get off work?"

"Seven,"

"Then I'll see you at seven thirty?"

"Lorelai,"

"Please, Luke? They'll already have eaten, so you won't have to suffer through the pain that is dinner."

"Fine."

"It's just after dinner drinks. That's it. I promise."

"I said fine."

"Oh, well. Okay."

"Seven-thirty?"

"That'd be great." Silence overcame the two of them for a few seconds. "Luke?"

"Yeah?"

"Thanks. So much."

"Of course."

* * *

By the time seven-thirty came, Lorelai was sure that her parents knew she was up to something. She had been nervous and quiet all throughout dinner and had barely eaten any of her food.

"Luke's gonna be stopping by."

Both of her parents looked up from their plates. "Excuse me?" her mother questioned.

"I asked Luke to stop by. He should be here soon."

"But we're still eating dinner," her father pointed out.

"Well, I didn't know it would take Veronica forever to get the food out," Lorelai explained.

"You haven't even eaten any of your dinner, Lorelai," Emily admonished. As soon as she finished speaking, the doorbell rang and Lorelai mumbled a quiet thank god under her breath.

"I'll get that." Lorelai sprung out of her chair, nearly tripping as her mother called after her. She pulled open the door before the maid could beat her there. "Finally!" she exaggerated.

"I'm five minutes early!"

"Should have been here an hour ago," she mumbled, pulling him inside. "I can't do this," she complained, her hands gesturing wildly. "They're going to kill me."

"They won't kill you," he comforted.

"Luke, they're rich. They'll be able to successfully hide the body and with enough money, everyone will forget that Lorelai Victoria Gilmore ever even existed!"

"Look, obviously they're not gonna throw you a party or whatever, but I doubt they'll shun you from the family."

Lorelai stared at him, dumbfounded. "You're acting like you've never met my parents."

"Lorelai," her mother called from the dining room.

She rolled her eyes, "Coming!"

"Well, hello, Luke," Emily greeted. "Would you like to sit down for some dinner? Lorelai still hasn't touched hers so I'm sure you won't be too far behind."

Lorelai gave Luke a pointed look. "Mom, I'm just not hungry tonight. Why don't you and dad finish up and we'll meet you in the living room?"

"Is everything alright, Lorelai?" asked Emily, seeming genuinely concerned.

"Yeah," she assured, keeping her eyes on the floor. "Everything's fine." She looked up at Luke, nodded her head towards the living room. "Let's go."

Luke followed her, took a seat next to her on the couch. "Does Chris know yet?"

"No," she told him quietly. "I figured I'd tell my parents first. He's gonna come over later."

He nodded. "I'm gonna head out before that."

She frowned, reached for his arm. "You can't leave me," she told him seriously. "I can't do this alone."

"Listen, Lorelai. I know that you need help with this, and I'm happy to help you with your parents, but there is no way in hell that I'm gonna be able to calmly sit down and have a civil conversation with the asshole who knocked you up." He looked at her, noticed how she was near tears. "Look, I'm sorry about that." He pulled her close to him. "If you want me to stay, I'll stay."

"You don't have to," she whispered.

"I'm staying. I might not be able to be in the same room, but I promise I will be there afterwards."

"Thanks." She leaned her head on his arm.

After a few minutes, her parents took a seat across from them, staring at Lorelai expectedly. "Did you want to talk to us, Lorelai?"

She sat up, straightened her back, smoothed out her dress. "Uh, yeah," she began meekly. Her breath became labored as the reality of it all hit her. She suddenly needed to escape, to get out of there as quickly as possible and never return. She felt her parents' eyes watching her every move, felt Luke's hand grab at her own. "Well, mom, dad- I have something to, uh, tell you."

"Well, get on with it, Lorelai. We don't have all day."

She hoped it would be better to just tell them and hope it would stun them so much they would enter a different dimension. "See, well, for a while I was seeing, um, Chris Hayden. You know Chris Hayden. Obviously you know Chris, he comes to all the parties we have and I've known him since I was like three and-"

"And what, Lorelai?"

"Chris and I were together, for awhile," she clarified. "But not anymore." She watched as her parents' faces fell with disappointment and braced herself for their next reactions. "Let's just get it out in the open- mom, dad, I-I'm pregnant." Her eyes closed instinctively so she missed their initial reaction, but the tightening of Luke's hands warned her to keep her eyes closed.

"Who knows?" her father asked.

She took a deep breath, "I'm sorry?"

"I would like to know who else is aware of your current… condition."

"And that is relevant, how, exactly?"

"When people find out, Lorelai, our status in the community will change for certain," he explained.

"Well, don't worry dad. I can promise you that no one outside of this room knows," she spat bitterly.

"Not even Christopher himself?" Richard asked, surprised.

"I wanted to tell you first," she defended.

"Luke didn't seem too surprised by this information, did you Luke?" inquired Richard.

"Look, dad, I asked Luke for his help and I wouldn't let him say no. I swore him to secrecy. This is not his fault, okay? This is all mine. And Christopher's," she added as an afterthought. She was getting more and more upset by the second. Her parents cared more about their status in society than they did their own daughter.

"I'm going to bed." Emily spoke up for the first time, her eyes avoiding her daughter completely. "Goodnight, Richard."

"Emily, we have not finished discussing this," Richard objected.

Emily turned around abruptly, her voice eerily calm. "Lorelai has made her own choices, Richard. She's an adult now. She can figure this out on her own. I'm going to bed, now. Goodnight."

With Emily's departure came an awkward silence over the three of them. Lorelai avoided her father's gaze, staring at her feet instead. Eventually Richard spoke up. "I'll call Straub and Francine in the morning," he told Lorelai before also walking out of the room, leaving Lorelai and Luke alone.

"Well," Luke spoke up, "you're still alive."

"They didn't even react," she said, confused and hurt. "They- they didn't even say how they wanted to fix it, how I was the worst daughter in the world's history, how-"

"Look, I'm sure they were just shocked. This is a big thing. It's not that they don't care. They do. Give them a few hours, I'm sure they'll be full of disappointment in the morning," he comforted, rubbing her back. "When's Chris coming over?"

"When I call him, I guess."

"Maybe you should get on that."

"Probably."

"I'll get the phone."

"And some dinner?"

"Why didn't you just eat earlier?"

"Because I was too full of dread to eat."

"Fine," he stood up. "You call Chris and invite him over and do whatever you need to do. I'll make dinner."

She smiled through her sadness. "Thanks, Luke."

* * *

"Hey, Lor," Chris said, climbing in through her window. "Missed me?"

"Hah, uh, no." She smiled. "Look, Chris, we need to talk."

"I knew this day would come," he chuckled, pulling her into his arms. "You want me back."

She pushed him away, backing up and sitting on her bed. With a shake of her head, she shrugged at his expectant face. "So, uh, I have to tell you something."

"Yeah?"

"Look, Chris, I'm just gonna tell you because tonight has sucked so much and I can't hold it in much longer. I'm pregnant."

"You're-"

"Pregnant, yes. And of course you're the father."

"I'm the-"

"Father, yes," she looked at him expectantly. "Do you have anything you want to say?"

He shrugged, "What is there for me to say?"

"Oh, I don't know," she remarked sarcastically. "Maybe a reaction would suffice?"

"Look, Lorelai, I don't know what you want me to say! You wanna be family, fine. You don't, that's fine, too. This is for you to decide, okay? You're the one with the baby."

Lorelai shook her head in astonishment. "I may be the one with the family, but you played a part in this, too. You have responsibilities." She bit her lip then stared back at him. "Look, we have a few months before this is real. I think you should take that time to think about what you want and when this baby is born, that's when you have to decide, okay?" She looked up at him. Of course he would take her up on the offer. Of course he wouldn't make a decision on his own. She knew what he would say, but still, a piece of her hoped desperately that he would prove her wrong.

He nodded, "That sounds good," he agreed, shattering her hopes. The silence she had become so accustomed to that night once again overcame the room. "I should get going." He nodded at the window. "Can't let my parents catch me gone."

They both knew his parents would never even consider checking on him, but they pretended it was true and said their goodbyes. She watched him leave, surprisingly upset. She laid down on her bed, didn't even flinch when the door opened.

"Lorelai?" Luke asked quietly, unsure if she was sleeping or not. "I've got bagel bites."

She adjusted herself on the bed, moving so that there was enough room for him to sit next to her. "Thanks," she mumbled, popping a mini-pizza into her mouth. She watched as Luke turned on the TV, waiting for her to say something to him. "I've been saying thanks a lot, lately."

He shrugged. "Doesn't bother me."

"You know that I appreciate this, all of it. Everything that you've done for me, ever, Luke- I appreciate it all."

"I get it."

"Just making sure."

They watched television in comfortable silence for a few moments before Luke spoke up. "Chris stop by?"

"Oh, uh, yeah. He left before you came in."

"Everything go okay?"

She shrugged, "He doesn't really want anything to do with us, I guess. I don't know. I told him he could wait until the baby's born to decide how he wants to be involved."

"Asshole."

She smiled faintly, laying her head against his arm. She didn't care about Chris, especially if she had Luke. He wouldn't leave her the way Chris did. He was Luke. She didn't take her eyes off the television as she spoke, "Hey, Luke?"

"Yeah?"

"I-I love you. I just thought you should know."

She smiled to herself as her wrapped his arm around her shoulder. "I know," he said, smiling into her hair.

* * *

Please don't hate me. I had a lot of time on my hands today. Still haven't graduated, but I have a renewed love for Luke and Lorelai.


End file.
